Center for Cross-Cultural Studies receives 10-year accreditation

Suzanne Tanski
907-474-6092
Sept. 15, 2023

Chris Cannon, Sean Asikłuk Topkok, Michael Koskey and Yoko Kugo, all doctorate-holding faculty members at the UAF Center for Cross-Cultural Studies, accept a 10-year accreditation from the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium during its annual general membership meeting in Fairbanks in July.
Photo by Suzi Tanski
Chris Cannon, Sean Asikłuk Topkok, Michael Koskey and Yoko Kugo, all doctorate-holding faculty members at the UAF Center for Cross-Cultural Studies, accept a 10-year accreditation from the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium during its annual general membership meeting in Fairbanks in July.

The ҹɫ¸£Àû 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 UAF College of Rural and Community Development, is the first organization in Alaska 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 Alaska 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 UAF to offer an integrated, cross-disciplinary course of advanced graduate study.

CXCS remains accredited through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities as a UAF 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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