New Hampshire Higher Education Commission Site visit - March 23 2011

On March 23rd 2011 the New Hampshire Postsecondary Education Commission (also known as the New Hampshire Higher Education Commission) published their findings from their site visit to ACHLS. The visit was conducted by the Chair, James Craiglow, Chancellor Emeritus, Antioch University, Brian Dobson, Commission Student Representative and Kathryn Dodge, Executive Director, NH Postsecondary Education Commission.

The Higher Education Commission is responsible for regulating colleges and universities that have a physical presence in New Hampshire.

ACHLS has received permission from the Commission to publish this report on our website.

You can find the complete report on The American College of History and Legal Studies here -

Highlights from the report include:

• Student evaluations of faculty for the fall semester 2010 were uniformly excellent. Faculty and students appear to have a mutually respectful and friendly rapport.


• The Harkness/Socratic method of teaching adds to the school's uniqueness, and helps to foster rich classroom engagement, critical thinking and, at times, vigorous debate among students.


• Students felt that ACHLS had very high expectations (easily confirmed by the syllabi and the sheer amount of reading and writing required) and that the program was challenging, acknowledging that it was not a program for everybody and that many recent community college graduates might have difficulty with the intensity and expectations. All believed that they had changed dramatically, for the better, as a result of their participation in the program


• Beyond securing physical space and completing renovations, ACHLS has demonstrated significant institution-building efforts. Specifically, ACHLS has constructed an informative and user-friendly presence on the web; produced written literature on the school and its program; entered into formal articulation agreements with 12 community colleges; developed a visible media presence through advertisements, feature stories, radio, and local-access TV programming; a personnel policy handbook is forthcoming; and NEASC contacts have been initiated. Given the relatively short timeframe between legislative approval and the present, these are rather serious and significant accomplishments. The energy and attention factors deserve commendation.

Again, the above are only excerpts and we encourage you to read the entire report. It is only two and a half pages long and makes for easy reading.