Message from Anna Modzelewska, 2024 Commission Chair

Greetings on behalf of CEA. As 2024 comes to a close, and as my term of service as Commission Chair concludes, I present a summary of the Commission’s work over the past year.

This year, CEA celebrated its 25th Anniversary of accreditation activities. Since 1999, the Commission has promoted excellence in the field of English language teaching, and we celebrate the agency’s accomplishments and growth throughout this time. Throughout the year, CEA recognized the contributions of current and former commissioners, volunteer peer reviewers, and current and former staff.

One of the highlights of CEA’s 25th year was the work of the newly-established Research and Expansion Committee, which continued its research focus for 2024: the Benefits of Self-study. In July, the committee posted a Call for Testimonials on the CEA website, inviting sites to submit testimonials about the benefits they observed from the self-study process. The committee also completed its work on the secondary annual research topic and established the research topic for next year. As part of CEA’s current Strategic Plan, strategic priorities for research and expansion have been enacted and are in the process of being implemented along with other aspects of the strategic plan.

The December Commission meeting was recently held in Alexandria, VA. The Commission functions as CEA’s decision-making body as well as its non-profit governance board. The Commission accomplished its planned work, including an accreditation decision-making session in addition to committee meetings and the range of reports and updates that are delivered in every meeting.

In closing, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the 2024 Commissioners for their dedicated service this year. I also want thank all the staff in supporting my year as chair, which has been an extraordinary and enriching learning experience for me. I am committed to continuing my service to CEA in the future and look forward to meeting all those whose CEA paths cross mine.

Anna Modzelewska
2024 Commission Chair

Recent accreditation decisions
The Commission met December 5-7, 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. Please direct any questions about CEA or its accredited programs and language institutions to staff at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Distance education
Programs and institutions wishing to deliver any portion of instruction via distance education must file for expansion of scope to add distance education to the scope of accreditation with CEA. For more information, contact staff at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Note that international students who have entered the US on F-1 visas for language training may not study online. Sites approved for distance education must attest that no F-1 students are enrolled in distance education programs accredited by CEA.

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. The election of Özlem Baykan, Dawn Little and Jennifer Grode was ratified by the Commission at its December meeting. Kimberlee Moore has been appointed as a public member of the Commission.

Annual Report
The CEA Annual Report Portal is live for 2025 submissions. The primary contact from each accredited program or institution should already have received information about how to complete the mandatory annual report, which consists of three parts: sustaining fees, financial reporting, and annual review form. Please see the CEA Resources page for more information about how to file an annual report, and how to create an account on the portal.

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.

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.