ACT will participate again in the world's leading series of Masters and PhD fairs coming to Thessaloniki on October 30th.
The Tour provides an outstanding opportunity for candidates to meet face-to-face with the MBA admissions officers and alumni of the world's top business schools.
QS World Grad School Tour, is taking place this year in 39 other cities, across 4 continents, from August to December. In Thessaloniki, the event will be held at Electra Palace Hotel, on Tuesday October 30th, 2007, from 17:00 to 21:00.

Full details of the QS World Grad School Tour 2007 can be found at http://www.topgraduate.com where one can also pre-register for the Thessaloniki venue.

ALBA Graduate Business School and the American College of Thessaloniki are very proud to announce that the ALBA&ACT Executive MBA (EMBA) Program has been accredited by the Association of MBAs (AMBA). This achievement follows the accreditation that was received by all of the other MBA Programs offered by ALBA earlier this year, and reflects the quality and high standard of the course.

Details about the Association of MBAs can be found on its official website: www.mbaworld.com.

For more information on the ALBA&ACT collaboration and Programs you may visit the web page, or contact ACT's Admissions office (tel: 2310-398398).

NEASC NEWS

A Fall 2007 Fifth-Year Interim Report was submitted to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education as part of the ten-year evaluation cycle. The 50-page Report discusses how and how well ACT meets each of NEASC's "Standards for Accreditation" and constitutes a joint effort involving numerous administrators, faculty and students.

NEASC Accredits ALBA&ACT joint degree programs

ACT was informed by the NEASC on September 28, 2007, that the Commission had approved the ACT/ALBA joint degree proposal submitted in a Substantive Change Report on August 24th. In early 2008, ACT will launch a joint Executive MBA Program with ALBA, the pre-eminent graduate business school in Athens, to be followed in September 2008 by MSc programs in Finance and Business Management.

NITLE NEWS

Through ACT’s membership in the American International Consortium of Academic Libraries (AMICAL) and its collaboration with the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education (NITLE), interested faculty and staff can take advantage of programs and workshops made available through multi-point interactive video (MIV) from November 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008. Programs cover such topics as open source course management software like Sakai and Moodle, using social networking software in teaching, creating institutional repositories, and more. All available offerings can be found at www.nitle.org under “upcoming events”. Would-be participants from ACT should contact Panos Vlachos, the program’s coordinator. Participation is also dependent on nomination by the NITLE campus liaison, Karen Bohrer. More information can be obtained from either Dr. Vlachos or Ms. Bohrer.

CHANGES IN THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT

Over two years ago we asked Mr. Mousiades to help organize and staff Anatolia's marketing department and direct all marketing activities. Herc agreed but his prior commitments limited his involvement to a part time basis and for a period of only two years. With the two years he had committed to us now up, he will be transitioning out of his current role as the institution's Marketing Director over the next month or so.

The success of Herc's efforts is apparent in the quality of the team he leaves in place, quality of our communications to outside constituencies, our advertising campaigns and promotional activities, and ultimately in the measured gains in brand awareness and interest for our various programs, particularly at ACT. For all this, the President and I extend our most heartfelt thanks to him.

Mr. Mousiades will assist in transitioning most of his current responsibilities to Mr. Thodoros Papanestoros, a 1991 alum of ACT (then SBALA) who joined us as Marketing Manager on October 1. Mr. Papanestoros has a BS Degree in Marketing from Deree and an MA in Marketing from Middlesex University as well as over 7 years experience with various advertising agencies in Athens. He reports to me and is located at Stephens Hall.

Herc will continue to assist Anatolia in specific areas, advising the President and myself on various strategic projects, as well as, remaining a resource on marketing matters for Mr. Papanestoros and all of us. He will also continue as a member of ACT's graduate business faculty where he has been an exceptional asset over the last few years.

Again, please join me in thanking Herc for his continuing contributions and welcoming Mr. Papanestoros to our organization.


Dr. Panos Kanellis
Executive Vice President
Chief Operations Officer

FROM THE OFFICE OF ACADEMIC & STUDENT AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS

The staff at the Office of Academic & Student Affairs and International Programs extends a warm welcome to all returning students and to all new students---freshmen, transfers, study abroad and those who will be attending the remedial English program.

As we begin a new academic year, here are a few announcements and events to single out:

• ACT has signed a two-year faculty exchange agreement with the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire, funded by the U.S. Department of Education. A total of seven business faculty members will benefit from short two-week visits.
• The 2007-08 Catalog of Studies is out and all faculty were sent copies; new students should pick up their own copies from the Reception desk in the New Building.
  The Catalog is also available online at http://www.act.edu/pdf/catalog2007-08.pdf

The 3rd edition of the undergraduate Student Handbook is available electronically at http://www.act.edu/pdf/handbook.pdf.
All students (particularly new students) should read it carefully and consult it frequently.

• The deadline for dropping a course is November 9th . Students need to get their advisor’s signature and submit the appropriate form to the Registrar’s Office.
• Residence permit assistance: New incoming degree-seeking international students and US study abroad students who have to apply for residence permits should seek assistance through the office of Mrs. Elena Charalambides, New Building.

MBA ORIENTATION 2007

The annual orientation program for the incoming MBA class of 2007 took place on Saturday, September 24th. There was a good turnout and the students met a number of their professors. The program concluded with a Creative Thinking experience.

The group of 22 new MBA students includes students from Greece and neighboring Balkan countries as well as some from Canada, Russia and France.

We extend a hearty welcome to them and wish them a successful academic experience.
 

NEW ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION DATABASE AVAILABLE!

Global Business Insights is a database that provides access to a full library of strategic management reports, making it a single source of data, analysis and market insight. Five industry sectors are covered: Finance, Technology, Health Care, Energy, and Food, Drink & Retail.
You can search by keyword or by category and view the full text of a report which includes tables and figures as well as narrative. You can cut and paste information into your own document.

To start using this powerful and data-rich resource, go to the following address:
http://www.bi-interactive.com/

As always, if you need help, ask a librarian!

STUDENT ENROLLMENT ON THE UP AND UP

The last months have been hectic at ACT, as we’ve been working hard to spread the word and make headway in student recruitment against numerous odds and tough competition.  The end result: Enrollment has increased considerably across the board with more candidates from Greece as well as the nearby countries and beyond in the incoming class.
 
…and the thank you goes to… 
…everyone!  The recruitment and admissions office, marketing, division chairs, faculty, administrative offices, all played key roles in the student recruitment effort.  Still it should be underlined that a major reason for this success is the living testimony of alumni who make ACT proud.
 
Of course, rest is not for the weary.  Yes, we’ve all worked hard. And yes, the results were positive and are indeed encouraging.  With prospects of ongoing changes in the educational environment in Greece, matters could improve significantly yet.   So, we all need to work even harder for even better results. ACT has the potential and deserves more and higher caliber students.  The recruitment and admissions office has recently submitted an annual report, where careful analysis of statistics, has pointed to areas for improvement, or possibly new approaches.  A comprehensive annual recruitment plan is currently being compiled and ideas are more than welcome.
 
With team effort, a targeted strategy and hard work we can look forward to a record recruitment year for 2008.

>> TO TOP

It’s hard to believe but the old HIR major was launched in September 1997, ten years ago. The degree has undergone several modifications since then, some cosmetic, others more substantial, but the core of the program is still pretty much the same.

In 2007-08, we can expect five recent initiatives to bear fruit. First, thanks to the efforts of Anatolia Trustee, Antonis Kamaras, ACT has approached the Southeast European Studies Program at Oxford University about setting up a jointly administered special summer seminar to compliment our normal study abroad summer fare. ACT will host the director of the SEESOX program, Othon Athanasakis, in late November for a new round of talks aimed at creating a pilot program for June 2008.

Second, ACT will be inviting select past Dukakis lecturers and other friends of the college to create an advisory board for the IR program. Already, Michael Dukakis has agreed in principle and several others have indicated an interest. The board will provide expert advice on any number of issues, including post-graduate and career opportunities for ACT alumni. It is expected that the first board circular will be sent out by the end of the 2007 calendar year.

Third, the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences has completed a draft proposal aimed at securing validation of the BA in IR from a leading British university. This is part of a college-wide effort to ensure that ACT is able to complete with other private institutions once Greece is obliged by the European Commission to grant professional licensure to students graduating from colleges in Greece formally affiliated with European universities. The overall objective is for ACT to retain its NEASC accreditation and to give up as little of its characteristic American curriculum as possible.

Also, ACT has begun discussions with Northeastern University about enhancing the strategic partnership between our two institutions. ACT hosted two senior administrators from Northeastern this past week about a variety of possible projects, including joint degrees, distance learning opportunities, and faculty exchange schemes. ACT has several important friends and supporters at Northeastern, not least of all Michael Dukakis, and we look forward to taking action on several of the different items discussed last week.

Finally, ACT has been approached by the US Consulate General of Thessaloniki to co-sponsor and coordinate one in a series of American studies mini-seminars in the coming year. The general idea is to modify the format of the annual seminar, which celebrated its tenth anniversary last May, and to reach out to other institutions in Thessaloniki and Northern Greece to help diversify and inject new vigor into the event by drawing in part on ACT’s special resources, including the Dukakis Chair and the Lucy Center.

As you look around you will see that a pretty decently-sized incoming class in IR has just joined our ranks. There is significant reason to believe that numbers will increase in the semesters to come as we enhance our public profile with these initiatives. On this note I wish you all another great semester at ACT.

We have ahead of us a promising academic year where the focus will be on quality standards in teaching and on expanding our research activities. A number of formal and informal faculty meetings will be devoted to these two subjects and more information will be sent to you shortly.

I am glad to inform you that all three internally funded research projects are progressing as scheduled and have resulted in a number of publications and conference presentations and student involvement. The new deadline for submitting preliminary proposals for the Internal Research Initiative for the academic year 2007-2008 is October 15th and faculty are strongly encouraged to submit their proposals.

A faculty exchange agreement has been signed with the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. UW-Eau Claire’s College of Business has received a Department of Education grant to provide opportunities for faculty from both UW-Eau Claire and ACT to have site visits and to collaborate. This two-year grant will take place during the academic years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.

A new interactive electronic whiteboard is now available to faculty. This was made possible through a generous donation by ACT’s alumni association. A training session is scheduled to take place in the next two weeks and faculty members will have the chance to become acquainted with the exciting features of this interactive whiteboard.