CEA Global Alliances

Integrating Academic Leadership and Integrity

CEA Global Alliances offer students the benefit of collaborations rooted in academic integrity and local and international expertise. The Global Alliance model allows American students to seamlessly integrate into an international learning environment, while aligning their studies with the academic needs and structures of their home universities. By combining the academic and management experience of our Academic Team with the academic strengths of institutions anchored in the local culture, CEA Global Education provides programs that serve as a model for U.S.-international higher education.

CEA Global Education is proud to name Anglo-American University (AAU) in Prague, Czech Republic, as its first Global Alliance partner. AAU's mission is to make the highest values of Anglo-American education and the best of Central European traditions accessible to students from all parts of the world. AAU’s breadth of curriculum, instruction in English, interactive classes and integration of students from around the world in the same classroom help make AAU the ideal choice for the more serious study abroad student. Will Barnard, Ph.D., is the Academic Dean and Campus Director in Prague and brings extraordinary credentials to this collaboration. He has lived in Prague for more than 10 years and is a recognized leader in global higher education. He holds degrees from Princeton University, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the University of Michigan, where he earned a doctorate in English Language and Literature. An academic innovator and listener, he has won the trust of faculty and students alike and is integral to the Global Alliance between AAU and CEA Global Education.

What's Been Accomplished Thus Far?

Our Global Alliance model has allowed American students to seamlessly integrate into an international learning environment, while aligning their studies with the academic needs and structures of their home universities. Dr. William H. Barnard, who has extensive academic leadership experience in Prague managing academic programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, has been working with AAU to enhance our students' and sending universities' experiences with CEA Global Education. Examples of some of these initiatives that have already been accomplished are below.

Transcripts

AAU has developed standard text for the reverse side of its transcripts, including information on the grading and credit systems used, and on the institution’s accreditation by the Czech Ministry of Education. The upgrade to the transcript also includes using security paper with the Czech national seal.

Honors Courses

A defined set of Honors courses — upper-level courses, with access restricted to students with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20 — have been developed and were offered to AAU students for the first time in the Fall 2010 semester. These courses allow high-achieving students to work closely with faculty on more specialized areas of study. As the program develops, these courses will be extended to include CEA students.

Feedback

At the start of the year, Student Course Evaluation forms and Peer Course Observation Forms were revamped to provide more useful feedback for lecturers. At the same time, a more intensive schedule of course observations was introduced, allowing Deans to devote more time to one-on-one work with lecturers.

Grade Dispute Procedure

While grade disputes are not common, an improved grade dispute procedure and form were introduced to standardize the handling of such cases. This will be especially helpful for American study abroad students who have returned to their home campus.

Long-Range Semester Planning

AAU has steadily moved forward its provision of schedules and course descriptions, which can be found on CEA’s webpage. This helps make sure that students considering studying abroad have all the information needed to plan their studies and ensure that they will be recognized by their departments at their home universities.

Academic Policies & Procedures

AAU embarked on an extensive review and update of its policies and procedures with the active involvement of both CEA and the teaching faculty. A substantially revised and updated Student Handbook and Faculty Handbook were introduced in AY 2010/2011.

External Certification in Language Courses

For students seeking more focused language instruction and who plan on continued study in Czech (or other Slavic language), AAU created a separate stream of language courses. While still incorporating elements of history and culture, the two-semester sequence is more focused on language competency. The second semester concludes with students taking the officially recognized A1 level Czech language exam at an external testing agency. Successful language students then have not only credits, but also a certification of their language proficiency which is legally valid for certain purposes in the Czech Republic and EU.

Benchmarking

A robust process of self-assessment is essential for institutional development. With CEA’s assistance, AAU is developing a standard internal assessment - a semester “snap shot” of key academic information and indicators to serve as internal benchmarks for development.

Updated Syllabi

During 2011, AAU began a project to update its syllabi and coordinate the academic information found on syllabi across the Schools (Business, Humanities & Social Sciences, International Relations, and Journalism).