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Center for Cross-Cultural Studies receives 10-year accreditation

The University of ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Fairbanks Center for Cross-Cultural Studies has received 10-year accreditation, 2023-2033, from the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium. 

The center — CXCS — submitted a comprehensive self-study report and hosted an intensive program site visit in March 2023. The official recommendation for accreditation was awarded during the 2023 WINHEC annual general membership meeting in Fairbanks in mid-July.

CXCS, a department within the ²ÝÁñÉçÇø College of Rural and Community Development, is the first organization in ²ÝÁñÉçÇø to earn WINHEC accreditation.

As an international accrediting authority, WINHEC strengthens and validates Indigenous higher education institutions and programs by promoting and acknowledging Indigenous knowledge systems and teaching methods.

CXCS addresses research, development and instructional issues associated with educational policies, programs and practices in culturally diverse contexts, emphasizing Indigenous peoples worldwide and rural and distance education. The center houses the ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Native Knowledge Network and offers master’s and doctoral degrees in Indigenous studies, emphasizing indigenous knowledge and Indigenous ways of knowing. The Indigenous studies doctoral program draws upon long-standing academic and research capabilities at ²ÝÁñÉçÇø to offer an integrated, cross-disciplinary course of advanced graduate study.

CXCS remains accredited through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities as a ²ÝÁñÉçÇø program. NWCCU is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation to accredit postsecondary institutions.

For more information about CXCS, please visit /cxcs/.

For more information about WINHEC accreditation, please visit .

Media contact: AsikÅ‚uk Topkok, cstopkok@alaska.edu, 907-474-5537 

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