ACICS Gets Nixed

December 15th, 2016 Education Secretary John King (Leigh Vogel/Getty Images) On December 12, 2016, John King, the U.S. Secretary of Education, announced the Education Department‘s final decision to terminate its recognition of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). ACICS was founded in 1912 as a national accreditor that accredited institutions offering programs […]

Dispatches from Association of International Recruitment Council (AIRC), Miami, FL

December 1st, 2016 I’m here in Miami, FL, at the annual AIRC Conference. International student recruiters, credential evaluators and admissions professionals are looking at the new President-Elect’s nationalist platform with caution wondering whether the new administration will have an adverse affect on the flow of international students to the U.S. Already we are hearing that […]

Life Abbreviated

10/20/16 On my way to work this morning, I stopped by the German bakery nearby. Me: Hi! (Trying my best to greet the young staff with my cheery presence.) Server (20-something male with bleached blonde spiked hair): no response, a simple nod. Me: Plain croissant, please. He reaches inside the display case and from the […]

Sharing a Reality (in International Education)

September 8th, 2016 With the oh-so-fun election season in full swing here in the U.S., it is more difficult than usual to ignore how people can operate in such different realities. People can’t seem to agree on what is a “fact”. In many cases, this is for good reason, because so much around us has […]

AN EVALUATOR’S JOURNEY

August 19th, 2016 When I accepted my mother’s invitation to accompany her to a cocktail party, I did so reluctantly. It was July 1982 and as a freshly minted college grad with a BA in Political Science the last thing I wanted to do was attend a party with my mother. It turned out to […]

Brexit and its Impact on U.K. Higher Education

July 1st, 2016 On Thursday, June 23rd, with a margin of 52 to 48 percent, British Citizens voted for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, spreading uncertainty and confusion among its universities and educators. For a quick (and I mean quick) primer on the UK, watch this highly informative clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10&feature=youtu.be Those in […]

Cheating, Credentials Fraud and Misrepresentation in the Academic Space

June 16th, 2016 In the past couple of weeks, there has been a flurry of news reports on widespread cheating by international students at U.S. institutions. News reports also speak of unethical recruitment practices by agents overseas who for large sums of commissions recruit unqualified international students and even go as far as falsifying their […]