Programs, Accreditations, & Initiatives

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education -- an independent, foundation-supported organization -- has been formed to promote constructive state and federal policy leading to increased opportunities for those seeking education and training beyond high school.

The center's founding board is being chaired by North Carolina Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. The board will include, among others: Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar; Garry Carruthers, president and CEO of Cimarron Health Plan and the former governor of New Mexico; Dr. Clark Kerr, president emeritus of the University of California; Dr. Dolores E. Cross, president, Morris Brown College; Dr. Thomas Ehrlich of California State University; Dr. Arturo Madrid of Trinity University in Texas; Dr. Robert H. McCabe, senior fellow at the League for Innovation in the Community College; Howard Rawlings of the Maryland House of Delegates; Dr. John Brooks Slaughter, president of Occidental College in California; Dr. Virginia B. Smith, president emeritus of Vassar College; Dr. Uri Treisman of the University of Texas-Austin; and Patrick M. Callan, the center's president.

"I am gratified that such a distinguished group has come together to stimulate a national conversation about how higher education can continue to most effectively serve the needs of this nation," said Hunt in naming the new board. "Higher education is facing serious challenges concerning cost, quality, and opportunity. We want to ensure that the doors to our colleges and universities are open wide for the next generation of Americans."

St. John's University School of Law has established the first Master of Laws degree in Bankruptcy in the country. The program is scheduled to begin in fall 1999.

Designed to produce attorneys who are able to handle bankruptcy cases involving the multi-disciplinary issues associated with most bankruptcy practices, the program's courses will cover such areas as Bankruptcy Accounting, Bankruptcy Taxation, Domestic Relations in Bankruptcy, Pension Benefits in Bankruptcy, and Multi-National Case Management.

Full- and part-time students will be required to complete 30 credits and pass the certification examination in Consumer or Business Bankruptcy given by the American Board of Certification.

The program has already been approved by the university's board of trustees and the New York State Department of Education. American Bar Association approval is pending.

The State University of New York-Empire State College's Center for Distance Learning has opened an International Business Online (IBOL) Research Center. The Saratoga Springs, N.Y., college's new resource is a comprehensive Web site from which Internet users can access virtual international business information in a rapid, cost-efficient way.

The IBOL Resource Center consists of a series of manageable links to a variety of existing Web sites. The menu provides access to a comprehensive array of resources, including sites for international business organizations, trade statistics, cross-cultural comparisons, legal and political information, exporting and improving, international business travel, and general international business references and economic information.

The center's Web address is <www.esc.edu/library/ibol/>.