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From left to right:
- Dr. Lou Berends, Vice President of Academic Affairs, is the Chief Academic Officer and is responsible for maintaining and strengthening CEA’s academic reputation. He provides strategic plans regarding CEA’s worldwide curriculum to account for the current and future higher education landscape.
- Dr. Stina Dufour, Academic Dean of Global Programs, oversees the academic vision of CEA Study Abroad. She manages CEA’s relationship with its school of record, the University of New Haven. She works closely with Academic Directors to develop and maintain consistent quality of academic policies.
- Alex Henderson, Senior Academic Coordinator, supports day-to-day operations, managing our Moodle Learning Management System, liaising with onsite staff and our school of record regarding academic policies, and chairs our scholarship committee.
Multiple points of accountability create the conditions for an elevated approach to academics at CEA. The relationship with our School of Record, the University of New Haven, goes above and beyond a basic SOR relationship because our partners at UNH have a rigorous course and faculty assessment process that is used to review and approve CEA Study Center courses, our Academic & Center Directors, academic leadership, academic facilities, and full-time or adjunct CEA Faculty. An academic performance review of a CEA Study Center is conducted annually by UNH leadership, CEA leadership, and members of our Advisory Board, allowing each Study Center to be reviewed every seven years.
The CEA Advisory Board facilitates continuous improvement of our overall operations, seeks out growth opportunities, identifies innovative learning opportunities, and holds us to the Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad as established by The Forum on Education Abroad. Our board members are a diverse group with varied areas of interest and expertise but are similar in their commitment to the field of education abroad.
In addition to the insight and feedback of our Advisory Board, our institutional partners directly impact the direction in which we are heading as an organization. In Fall 2021 we conducted an academic survey to assess partner institution needs that will influence our future trajectory when considering new destinations or academic areas to explore. Our institutional partners are a key aspect of what makes CEA programming successful as many of our academic programs are born out of a partner need. Taking on curricular mapping and course matching opportunities allows us to continue to serve more students and partners, keeping us nimble and adaptable to the ever-changing higher education landscape.
As an organization that has always embraced change and continuous feedback, we are primed to meet the challenges of the next chapter of global higher education. I look forward to hearing from you on how CEA Academics can be a seamless extension of your organization’s global learning goals.
Stina Dufour, Ed.D. is the Dean of Global Programs and Academic Administration.
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