Message from Anna Modzelewska, 2024 Commission Chair

Greetings on behalf of the Commission. I’m happy to provide these updates following our August meeting.

CEA’s August Commission meeting was held in person in Alexandria, VA near the CEA offices. The Commission accomplished its planned work, including an accreditation decision- making session, two professional development sessions for the Commission as well as committee meetings and the range of reports and updates that are delivered in every meeting. We also celebrated CEA’s 25^th Anniversary with former commissioners and CEA staff. Please see below for updates from CEA and a link to the August meeting accreditation decisions.

Anna Modzelewska
2024 Commission Chair

Recent accreditation decisions
The Commission met August 2-4, 2024, to make accreditation decisions and conduct other CEA business. Accreditation decisions are announced on the CEA website under “Recent Decisions” within 30 days of each meeting. In addition, below I’ve provided information about other Commission actions and matters. Please contact Heidi Vellenga, CEA’s Executive Director at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions you may have about the Commission actions, announcements and activities described below.

Call for Testimonials – deadline extended
The Research and Expansion Committee has extended the deadline for the Call for Testimonials until August 30, 2024. See the attached graphic and the Request for Testimonials / Input for more information on providing your opinion on how the self-study process has benefitted your program or language institution, your faculty, staff, and administrators, or specific aspects of your academics or operations. Your input will become part of a research study conducted to commemorate CEA's 25th year of accreditation operations.

Nominating Committee and Ballot
An independent Nominating Committee reviews commissioner applications, conducts interviews, and selects candidates for Commission service. CEA conducts an election for new commissioners between September 15 and November 1 each year. Per CEA’s Policies and Procedures, members of the CEA Constituent Council as represented by their primary contacts are responsible for voting to elect the new commissioners. Constituent Council representatives will receive information about the slate of candidates and instructions for voting prior to September 15, 2024. 

Fee Schedule
Each year in August, the Finance Committee reviews the CEA Fee Schedule to approve all fees for the following year. There are no increases to sustaining fees. The new fee schedule is effective January 1, 2025.

Workshops
CEA regularly delivers accreditation workshops and reviewer training workshops in-person and online.  CEA also regularly invites new program directors and primary contacts from newly-accredited sites to participate in an informational webinar related to ongoing requirements. CEA will hold a virtual accreditation workshop and a virtual reviewer training workshop in October. CEA workshops are not open to the public, and attendance requires staff approval. Additional information and workshop dates are on the CEA website: https://cea-accredit.org/accreditation/workshops and https://cea-accredit.org/reviewers/become-a-reviewer

Please contact staff at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions about this News from CEA, or to update contact information for your program or institution. 

The Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA) is currently seeking nominations for commissioners to serve from January 2025 through December 2027. Applications are due July 1, 2024, for three new Commissioners to serve three-year terms. Please see the Call for Nominations below for requirements and application procedures.

  2024 CEA Call for Nominations (Click to download PDF)   

During the call for nominations, applicants are invited to submit the following materials to the CEA office:

• Cover letter stating experience and training, as well as involvement in program evaluation, and a statement of reasons for seeking to serve
• Resume or curriculum vitae
• Signed "Letter of Understanding and Agreement to Serve"
• Name, email, and telephone number of two references

The nomination deadline is July 1.

Benefits of Self-Study in the Accreditation Process: Request for Testimonials / Input

Deadline: August 30, 2024

In celebration of CEA’s 25th Anniversary in 2024, a comprehensive analysis of the self-reported benefits of self-study taken from responses included in over 550 self-study reports submitted between 2012 and 2023 has been completed. Findings indicate that sites have reported four primary areas of benefit: organizational learning, capacity-building, a culture of improvement, and stakeholder relations. Within these broad areas, 38 specific subconcepts have been identified; see next two pages for the complete list. To enhance our research through methodological triangulation, CEA is now seeking testimonials related to each of these subconcepts.

Submission Guidelines:
Tell us how your program or language institution has experienced the benefits of self-study related to one of the sub-concepts listed on the next two pages. Each testimonial must be based on a single sub-concept and can have up to two authors. There is no limit on the number of testimonials an author or site may submit.

If the testimonial is based on the work of a currently-CEA-accredited site, the site’s primary contact, if not an author, must provide permission for submission of the testimonial.

Word limit: 100-200 words is suggested with a maximum of 300 words per entry.

Informed Consent:
Selected testimonials will be published on the CEA website later this year and may be referenced in future publications. Testimonials will be credited in aggregate to the author(s) and the site that submitted them. Submissions may be edited for clarity. By submitting, you agree that your testimonial may be used as part of this research study and included in any publications, materials, and resources produced by CEA.

Submissions will be accepted from July 1, 2024, through August 30, 2024. The Research Committee will review submissions, and authors of selected testimonials will be notified by CEA staff.

Click here to SUBMIT A TESTIMONIAL
(https://forms.office.com/r/SPLXzz5bUZ)

2024 CEA Testimonials / Input (click to read a PDF of the survey questions)

Read more ...