Teaching Downrange in Afghanistan, Kuwait with the Worldwide Campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Daytona Beach, Fla., March 5, 2008 – The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Afghanistan and Kuwait campuses have played an intricate role in providing military students the opportunity to continue their pursuit of higher education while deployed. Embry-Riddle is demonstrating its commitment to these deployed soldiers by taking university services to Bagram, Camp Buehring, and other off-site bases, providing students crucial educational support and guidance.

The on-ground Assistant Director of Academic Support (ADAS) in Afghanistan, Samatha Santee, works with soldiers from all over Afghanistan in facilitating enrollments with Embry-Riddle and advising students on their current degree plans. The Director of Academic Support, Heather Stewart, works with students in Kuwait and Iraq from Kaiserslautern, Germany. A new onsite assistant director for Kuwait has been hired and will be starting in February to give students the face-to-face support they deserve.

While some students choose the online learning environment, many have taken advantage of the on-ground courses offered at Bagram Air Field (BAF) and Forward Operating Base Fenty (FOB) in Jalalabad, Afghanistan and Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Students are afforded the classroom experience taught by highly qualified local adjunct instructors. The local instructors were thoroughly screened before being offered an adjunct position, as the hallmark of an Embry-Riddle education is faculty excellence.

Embry-Riddle believes that the nation’s deployed military men and women deserve the same quality of instruction as their stateside counterparts. Instructors, like Jason Davis, assist in arranging courses from a distance at Forward Operating Bases that cannot be accessed by non-military personnel. This progressive thinking has allowed Embry-Riddle to offer on-ground courses to students who otherwise would not have been able to attend a course in the classroom.

The courses offered at BAF and FOB Fenty include aviation maintenance technology Part 65, management, safety, security and intelligence courses. The Aviation Maintenance Technology (AMT) Certificate program is quite popular at BAF with over 25 consistent enrollments for each of six courses. Soldiers and military contractors enrolled in the program completed the series in five months earning 21 semester hours toward either a certificate or degree track program. The AMT Certificate program was just launched last month in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait with 19 students attending the first course, despite the absence of a person on the ground to actively recruit students to the program.

The Afghanistan campus has had over 200 enrollments since August 2007. The student population has grown in Afghanistan, with continued growth anticipated given Embry-Riddle’s commitment to providing superior academic support to participating service members. Student academic advising is done in person, via email, or by telephone. Each student is personally assisted with their application, degree track, and inquiries. The university attributes its success with the Afghanistan and Kuwait campuses to its ongoing investment in quality, responsive student services.

Online students are given the benefit of the same ongoing guidance as on-ground students. Since online learning students are sometimes challenged by inconsistent Internet access, the International Region of Embry-Riddle will be piloting the “Blackboard Backpack” to remedy the situation. This program will allow service members in remote locations to download courses to their personal laptops and participate as if attending the online course. Students will have access to discussion questions, assignments, and peer interaction. Once they are in an area where Internet connection is possible, they can upload their assignments into their Blackboard classroom. This is just one more technological innovation Embry-Riddle has undertaken to invest in the welfare of its deployed students.

The Afghanistan and Kuwait campuses are supported by the International Region headquarters in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Headquarters staff members coordinate with field staffers and military support personnel to coordinate degree programs, on-ground courses, and ensure contracting requirements are met.

The Worldwide headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida, also plays a critical role in ensuring downrange programming success. Numerous departments, such as Worldwide Online, Veterans Affairs, Accounting, GoArmyEd, and the Registrar’s office, interact daily with the International Region and downrange locations to provide timely assistance whenever needed. This very support is what has led to Embry-Riddle’s success in serving its military family in Afghanistan and Kuwait.

Embry-Riddle Worldwide began in 1970 as a branch of the Daytona Beach Campus at Ft. Rucker, Ala., with 20 students, primarily military working adults. Since then, the program has grown to be one of the largest off-campus, regionally accredited colleges in the United States, with over 45,000 alumni. Today, the Worldwide organization meets the needs of over 27,000 students through classroom, online, or hybrid undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. The university educates more than 34,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., Worldwide at more than 130 centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, and through online learning.

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