At the October 2024 Board meeting, President Rob Manzer reported on his involvement with the national conversation on post-secondary accreditation reform. His work has included regular participation in the American Enterprise Institute (DC) Accreditation Reform Working Group and the Higher Education Working Group. His report, “The American University’s Path to Illiberalism” was published in the AEI Higher Education Policy Catalog. In April he provided a briefing on accreditation reform to the Defense of Freedom Policy Group and in May, he participated in the National Association of Scholars webinar, “The Future of Accreditation”. Rob concluded his report to the AALE Board stating that, “AALE remains a distinctive asset in the broader market of post-secondary and K-12 accreditation. National conversations focusing on reforms to post-secondary accreditation continue. However which reforms will be pursued or brought into play will be determined by the results of the upcoming national election.”
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AALE Holds Annual Elections
Annual elections were held at the June 2024 Board meeting. Board of Trustees members, Steve Balch, an independent scholar in Lubbock, TX was elected to a third 4-year term and Joshua Hochschild, Professor of Philosophy at Mount Saint Mary’s University (MD) was elected to a second 4-year term. Robert Manzer was reappointed as President.
Two new members were elected to the Council of Scholars – Dr. Karen Price and Dr. Peter Ulrickson. Karen is the Vice Provost and Dean of Instructional Effectiveness at Belmont Abbey College (NC). She has extensive experience with program evaluation, strategic planning and student learning outcomes assessment. Karen has published on alternate assessment in the Journal of Special Education and on measuring student engagement in the Journal of Continuing Higher Education. Peter is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the Catholic University of America (DC). He has published in Communications and Algebra and is the author of the math text A Brief Quadrivium and the companion text Teaching the Quadrivium-A Guide for Instructors.
AALE’s Newest Members
AALE recently welcomed members under the Associate and the newly established Affiliate membership categories. Joining as an Associate member is the Honors Program at Montreat College (NC). The Honors Program is open to students from all majors and consists of 22 hours that replace courses in the General Education program. Honors students explore texts and topic from the Christian, Western, and World traditions from the perspective of multiple disciplines across the arts and sciences. Joining as an Affiliate member is Saint Constantine College (TX). Founded in 2016, Saint Constantine College is “dedicated to setting the standard for dialectical, Great Texts education in the classical model, and graduating students who are generous conversants, lifelong learners, and moral leaders in their communities.”
AALE Holds Annual Elections
The American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) held annual elections on June 13, 2023. Board of Trustee member Gary Kelly, a consultant and attorney in New York was reelected for a second four-year term and Robert Manzer was re-appointed as president. A new Council of Scholars member Rudy Hernandez was elected.
Rudy Hernandez is the Director of Undergraduate Studies-Truman School of Government and Public Affairs and Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science at Missouri University, Columbia (MO). His research focuses on political theory and American political development. Recently his work has appeared in The Political Science Reviewer. He has prior government experience, including having been in AmeriCorps, having worked as a tax examiner in the U.S. Treasury Department, and eight years in the U.S. Army Reserve. Rudy received his Ph.D. and M.A. from Louisiana State University and his B.A. from St. John’s College-Annapolis (MD).
AALE President Addresses Illiberalism
AALE’s president, Dr. Robert Manzer is the author of a recent report “The American University’s Path to Illiberalism”, published by the American Enterprise Institute. The report examines the slide of American universities into illiberalism – a slide, which according to Manzer did not happen overnight. The report presents the view that “the current campus phenomena we are witnessing are partly a result of a decades-long assault on the faculty’s role and standing on campus. The full report is available at The American University’s Path to Illiberalism | American Enterprise Institute – AEI
AALE Panel at ACTC Conference
AALE’s President, Dr. Robert Manzer attended the ACTC (Association of Core Texts and Courses) national conference in Dallas (TX) March 30-April 2 where he hosted the panel, “The Perfect Storm: Accreditation Reform and the Liberal Arts.” The panel was the result of the on-going partnership between AALE and ACTC designed to explore common goals in support of liberal education and to foster networks among the membership of both organizations.
AALE/ACTC co-sponsor webinar
The American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) and the Association of Core Texts and Courses (ACTC) co-sponsored a webinar entitled Supporting Liberal Education and Liberal Arts: Five Ways Accreditation Can Help on October 20, 2022. Co-hosts Mary Ann Powers, Executive Director of AALE, and Charlotte Thomas, Executive Director of ACTC, welcomed primary speaker Robert Manzer, President of AALE. The webinar addressed the latest challenges programs and institutions committed to genuine liberal education are facing in what is today a volatile and rapidly changing higher education environment. The importance of the webinar’s content was recognized by those in attendance, and AALE will be conducting a follow-up discussion session at the 2023 ACTC National Conference in Dallas (TX) March 30-April 2, 2023.
AALE President hosts K-12 Focus Group
Dr. Robert Manzer, newly appointed president of AALE, attended the Classical Education Symposium: Festival of Ideas in Fort Collins, CO on October 1, 2022. Working with board member Terry Croy Lewis, Executive Director of the Colorado Charter School Initiative, Manzer hosted a focus group on How Accreditation Can Unlock Higher Education Resources for Classical Education Schools.The discussion with the focus group explored how accreditation can best support more transparent liberal education pathways, aligned dual enrollment opportunities, and dual-enrollment instructor credentialing.
AALE Board appoints new President
The American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Robert Manzer President of AALE at the annual meeting on June 14, 2022. Manzer has served on the AALE Council of Scholars since 2015 and brings to his role as AALE president an extensive range of teaching, academic, administrative, and business experience that covers the entire higher education landscape. He has worked for non-profit and for-profit institutions, regulatory bodies, professional associations, and education technology companies. Most recently he is the co-founder and Chief Academic Officer of Acadeum a company that facilitates sharing on-line courses, credits, and tuition.
Manzer began his academic career at the University of Dallas (UD) as an Assistant Professor and Coordinator for Undergraduate Affairs in Politics. Later he became the Associate Dean of UD’s Constantin College. He went on to serve at several academic institutions in various capacities including: Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU); Dean of the Getty College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio Northern University; and Vice President of Academic Affairs at St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX. While at NWU, Manzer initiated and developed a Capitol Hill Internship Program in Washington, DC and a 10-college United Methodist College Washington Consortium to support the Program.
Prior to founding Acadeum, Manzer served as the Chief Operating Officer for the Texas Association of Non Profits; the Regional Vice-President for Synergis Education, a third party on-line management company; and the Provost and Chief Academic Officer for American Intercontinental University, a for-profit online and ground campus university.
Manzer received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Political Philosophy/Political Science from the University of Chicago (IL) and his B.S. in Political Science from Carleton College (MN). He is the author of articles in the American Political Science Review and the American Journal of Political Science.
AALE holds annual elections
The American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) held annual elections on June 14, 2022. Board of Trustees members Peter Keith, Robert Maranto and Karl Schumann were each reelected for a second four-year term. New Board members include Kathryn Hougham, Terry Croy Lewis and Rene Paddags.
Kathryn Hougham is a Program Associate at Philanthropy Roundtable in Washington (DC). She is an accomplished violist, who has served on the music faculty of the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda (MD) and the Indianapolis Suzuki Academy (IN). Hougham received her D.M.A. in Viola Performance from the University of Maryland College Park, her M.A. from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and B.A. from the Cleveland Institute of Music (OH).
Terry Croy Lewis is the Executive Director at the Colorado Charter School Institute in Denver (CO). Prior to working at the Institute, Croy Lewis served as the Vice President of School Quality and Support at the Colorado League of Charter Schools. She founded the Platte River Academy (CO) and the High Point Academy (CO), where she also held the position of Executive Director/Principal. Croy Lewis received her Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Public Address from the University of Maryland, and her M.A. and B.S in Communications from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Rene Paddags is Associate Professor of History and Political Science at Ashland University (OH) and a resident faculty member at the Ashbrook Center, Ashland (OH). He joins the Board after having served as Chair of the AALE Council of Scholars for five years. A recent recipient of a Fulbright Senior Scholar Grant – Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain), Paddags received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Maryland, his M.A. in International Relations from John Hopkins University and his B.A. from the University of North Dakota.
The AALE Board also elected Dr. Sara Henary, Associate Professor of Political Science at Missouri State University (MO) to serve a four-year term on the AALE Council of Scholars. Henary recently completed a three-year replacement term on the AALE Board of Trustees.