Atlantic Union College

Microsoft IT Academy and Internet2—Live Now at Atlantic Union College (AUC)

            Technology is evolving faster than ever before. Businesses need skilled employees who are confident with the latest technology—they need skills that are current, validated, and they need them now. Atlantic Union College, now a Microsoft IT Academy, can help existing and incoming students to get these skills and prepare them for the certifications needed. More than 600 free software programs are also available to the faculty and staff.

            Internet2, the foremost U.S. advanced networking consortium, gives Atlantic Union College (AUC) the cyberinfrastructure to offer Microsoft IT Academy. “Internet2 gives us an extremely robust internet,” says Atlantic Union College President Norman Wendth. “AUC is the only college within the 15 Adventist colleges and universities in the North American Division to be connected into the Internet2 system. This was accomplished through an agreement with Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in nearby Worcester, Massachusetts. We are now one of their satellites.

            “I’m very excited to have more services, streaming video, intensive scientific and educational research, certifications, and the capabilities to download television programs related to students’ coursework.” 

            AUC is among 250 Internet2 participants including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, Princeton University, Tufts University, National Institutes of Health, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Ohio State University, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Microsoft IT Academy—Instruction, Validation, and Immersion

• IT Instruction provides Microsoft training curriculum supported by a wealth of online resources from Microsoft and its worldwide partners for students and educators.
• IT Validation assesses and certifies performance at many levels, and helps make certification(s) more affordable. Whether or not certification is completed, the program provides competency benchmarks that validate skills for prospective employers.
• IT Immersion surrounds students with real-world challenges, experiences, and insights to prepare them to meet the needs of employers and the professional IT community at a high level. The Microsoft IT Academy program also provides membership in an alumni program that offers graduates life-long learning.

Certifications Offered

      “We are offering training courses for the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) and Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA),” says Ademir Soares, AUC’s Chief Information Officer. Soares previously worked for NASA’s IT in New York City and at Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). He was responsible for super-computer farm operations including Craig, Amdhal, IBM and SUN.

      In addition to providing college students education with strong earning power, Soares’ long-term goal is to provide Adventist academies with IT education migrating their interest in the areas of computer science, business, and the sciences.

Tools for the Non-technical

      Internet2 also creates a global stage for those in the arts and humanities, defining ways to create, teach, perform, and collaborate. Go to www.internet2.edu.  It is a powerful tool for professionals in healthcare, science and engineering, and teaching and learning.  www.health.internet2.edu.  For additional information e-mail: auc.ita @auc .edu.

 

Complied by

Cindy Kurtzhals, Atlantic Union College Public Relations Director

 

Atlantic Union College has restructured its curriculum and focus to achieve continued and improved academic quality and increased financial stability. The new specialty focus and direction for the College is Christian leadership and social engagement. This change comes with new accreditation results.

In the context of its new focus and direction and financial status, NEASC placed the College’s accreditation on a probationary status until the new focus has demonstrated itself to be financially viable. A comprehensive site visit will be made in spring semester, 2009.  All student degrees and credits are fully accredited.

To see the steps of the process of shaping this new direction for the College, read the articles in the Atlantic Union Gleaner magazine which have been shared with constituents of the Atlantic Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in recent months. Also, the statement of the accrediting body, The New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (NEASC), is in the attachment below.

January, 2008 Atlantic Union Gleaner, page 12 (pdf)
"New Direction for Atlantic Union College"

March, 2008 Atlantic Union Gleaner, page 13(pdf)
"AUC Constituents Hear Exciting New Direction"

April, 2008 Atlantic Union Gleaner, page 13(pdf)
"Atlantic Union College's Accreditation Renewed—New Focus Approved"

—South Lancaster, Massachusetts. Atlantic Union College signed an articulation agreement July 21, 2008, with Massachusetts Bay Community College (MassBay) offering scores of MassBay nursing students the opportunity to complete their Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Atlantic Union College.

 

“Strong partnerships, I believe, are the future of higher education,” says Atlantic Union College president, Norman Wendth. “This is certainly so at Atlantic Union College.”

 

MassBay Community College’s enrollment totals 5,000 students on three campuses: Wellesley Hills, Framingham, and Ashland, Massachusetts, all Boston suburbs.

 

Trend of New Partnerships
This is the second recent partnership Atlantic Union College (AUC) has executed. Last October, College officials signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Assumption College allowing eligible AUC undergraduates to enroll in graduate level courses in Assumption College’s BS/MBA program.

 

Assumption College is based in Worcester, Massachusetts, 20 miles southwest of South Lancaster. Its enrollment includes nearly 3,000 undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education students.

 

 

MassBay
MassBay Community College “desires to develop articulation agreements with four-year colleges and universities to serve its constituents and to facilitate transfer opportunities for its graduates who want to pursue a four-year degree in order to enter, or advance in, the employment market at a higher level.”

 

Given the potential of the labor market and the proximity of MassBay and Atlantic Union College, both entities see the nursing partnership as a good fit. In language of the agreement, “Both institutions are regionally accredited with long histories in higher education. This agreement will make opportunities for continuation and/or advancement in nursing accessible to a wider student population in the surrounding communities.”

 

The agreement continued, “This agreement with provide graduates with an Associate of Science in Nursing from MassBay Community College with an opportunity to complete the Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Atlantic Union College within the equivalent of two years of full-time study or up to five years in a part-time student in a program that blends professional studies with the liberal arts.”

 

 

Assumption College
This is the first time the Worcester, Massachusetts, Assumption College has allowed students from another campus to benefit from their unique BS/MBA, a five-year accelerated program.

 

Both colleges are members of the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc. This 40-year-old alliance of 13 area colleges works cooperatively both to further the missions of the member institutions individually and to advance higher education regionally.

 

AUC seniors can take two graduate level courses at Assumption which will simultaneously fulfill AUC undergraduate requirements and reduce the course requirements for Assumption’s MBA program.

 

“Parents and students with resolve will begin to realize quick returns on their educational investment when the student can graduate in four years, obtain professional certifications(s), and obtain an MBA in accounting, finance, or marketing in their fifth year,” explained Jacob Nortey, chair of AUC’s Business Department. “And, at the end of their fifth year, students would have all the credit hour requirements to enable them to sit for the national certifying exams of the American Institute of Professional Accountants to become CPAs.”

 

The business program at AUC prepares students professionally, equips them to sit for certification in their chosen fields and specializations, and adequately readies them for employment in the business world at large, and service to the Church in its denominational institutions spanning the globe.

 

Theology/religion professor Dean Davis was honored for his 30 years of service to Atlantic Union College at the College Church on May 31. College President Norman Wendth and fellow religion professor Rick Trott presented Davis with a plaque. 

            “Dr. Davis has served 30 years in the department and 29 of those years as chair, a new AUC record, I believe, for continuous chair appointment,” says Trott. “AUC Board of Trustees first appointed Dean as Professor Emeritus, and then President Wendth named him Distinguished Lecturer—the highest rank possible for AUC professors.  

            “The Religion Department also gave Dean an ornamental Japanese Red Leaf Maple tree for his home garden and took him and Vera, his wife, out for a celebration dinner.

            “While Dean is retired, he will continue to teach a reduced classroom load in the Religion Department as a special adjunct professor, and maintain some of his favorite Biblical languages and Biblical studies courses,” explained Trott. 

            Trott has now been named departmental chair. He has served the college for 31 years, first as chaplain and religion professor for 21 years, and then as a full-time professor for the past 10 years.

 

What A Student Says About Dr. Davis

Hanif Maragh is a junior at Atlantic Union College. He is from Roosevelt, New York, and is a member of the Ebenezer Seventh-day Adventist Church.

 

            “When I first came to AUC, I desired to learn more about scripture and more about God. I’d heard a lot of stories about Dr. Davis and how he’s a super scholar, so I looked forward to meeting him.

            “The first class I sat through with him was The Gospels. While in that class, I finally got to understand what righteousness by faith meant. Dr. Davis has been given a talent to take the Bible and bring very deep things out of it, yet at the same time show the simplicity of the gospel. I felt like that was amazing.

            “Dr. Davis is always there to talk to the students. As the semester progressed, I began to doubt my calling to become a minister. I decided to talk to him about it, and he told me that while he was in school, he had the same struggle. So, he was there for me as a teacher and also as a mentor.

            “He’s very humble-hearted and though he has a vast amount of biblical knowledge, he still is able to communicate with his students and bring them closer to Christ.

            “I enjoy sitting through his classes. Even when I am not registered for a class, I just want to sit there and listen to him. And, it’s always a pleasure to stop by his office and to exchange words with him. He is definitely my favorite teacher.”