Bi-Annual Update
By Ricky Peterson
Accreditation
The Neohumanist College of Asheville (NHCA) is on the way to becoming an accredited institution with the Accrediting Council of Continuing Education and Training (ACCET), authorized by the US Department of Education. To meet the requirements of the accreditation process we are conducting the completion of the Analytic Self-Evaluation Report (ASER). Undertaking this ASER has involved NHCA Board members, instructors, staff and others whose professional skills have greatly facilitated meeting the demands of this self-evaluation of nine standards of curriculum and administrative accountability the college must satisfy. Three board members attended the Accreditation Workshop sponsored by the Accreditation Council of Education and Training (ACCET) in Washington DC on August 24-25 for new applicants for accreditation.
NHCA Board and Development
The NHCA board has made valuable contributions in every facet of the declared NHCA priorities of “quality education” and “financial viability”. The NHCA Board has been meeting monthly and has created a finance committee consisting of Alberta Pedroja, Jai Hemmelgarn, Steve Landau, Mike Zimmerman and Ricky Peterson. We have all dedicated ourselves to the accomplishment of accreditation of the NHCA that supports acceptance of our courses by other institutions and employers and access to Title 4, US government funding.
NHCA also brought on several new team members. Scott Hackworth is the new Chief People Officer and is supporting our courses as Zoom Host, Google Classroom management, Classroom video editing, contracts management and Samarth Maheshwari has joined as an Advisory Board Member on our Finance Committee, Michael Zimmerman also joined as an Advisory Board Member on our Finance Committee. Also, Wilder Nicholson has also joined on our marketing team supporting video editing and design. Karl Robins and Sergio Arrambide Villarreal have also stepped up as Publications Marketing Task Force Members working on the marketing plan for our 10 published children’s books.
Hurricane Helene was a significant weather event in our area that had a devastating impact on many people’s lives. The college and the surrounding community were without power, water, internet or cell phone service for many days. While none of our physical structures were damaged, just a short couple of miles down the road, our entire downtown Marshall was completely submerged under water, and many homes completely washed away. In the Neohumanist spirit, recognizing the connectivity of all, many local organizations and local neighborhood volunteers came together, under the banner of AMURT and AMURTEL to rally energy and resources to help the surrounding communities based on the immediate needs and the collective capacity. The college was able to offer its kitchen space for cooking meals for food distribution, in the later weeks of the relief effort, as well as holding organizational meetings to debrief about the work and plan for the future.
Current Programs and Courses
The Neohumanist Education Teacher Preparation Program has begun its second year of a two-year certificate for approximately 20 international students.
We also just completed our NHE 100 Fall 2024 offering, Introduction to Neohumanist Philosophy, with Didi Ananda Devapriya and Ruai Gregory with 10 students from around the world.
The annual offering of NHE 109 Teaching Eight-Limbed Yoga for 3-10-year olds with Mahajyoti Glassman was completed at the end of December with 7 students.
Upcoming Programs and Courses
A new program, Wellness and Psychology, has been added to the college’s list of multi-disciplinary programs which will offer a course by Kathy Kaoverii Zimmerman PhD and a course by Bruce Viveka McEwen PhD on Wholeness and Wellbeing: Lifestyle Medicine. These courses will be scheduled for the Spring semester of 2025.
Please visit us to register for the following upcoming courses (all times in ET):
LHA 102: The Promise of Memory: A Memoir Writing Class {NEW}
Andy Douglas 3/20/2025 – 5/8/2025 Thursdays 6pm – 7:30pm
YIS 104: Yoga Practices & Wellness: Kaoshikii Yoga Dance Course {NEW}
Didi Ananda Sainjaina, MJ Glassman, Kathy Zimmerman 3/26/2025 – 05/14/2025 Wednesdays 10am-11:30am
WAP 100: Lifestyle Medicine for Wholeness & Wellbeing Course {NEW}
Bruce McEwen 4/2/2025 – 5/21/2025 Wednesdays 7pm-8:30pm
YIS 201: Philosophy of Yoga Course
Ramesh Bjonnes 5/20/2025 – 6/8/2025 Tuesdays 7:00pm-8:30pm
WAP 102: Embracing Diversity & Cultural Health
Kathy Zimmerman, Ricky Peterson 5/28/2025 -7/16/2025 Wednesdays 6pm-7:30pm
YIS 101: Yoga Teacher Training Course
Steven Landau 6/14/2025 – 10/25/2025 Saturdays 8:30pm-10pm
LHA 103: Critical Thinking
Jesus Vila 6/6/2025 – 7/11/2025 Friday’s 6pm-7:30pm
NHCA Partnership Offerings
Neohumanist Education Exchange
NHCA and GANE, have partnered to offer monthly free-or-donate events that have attracted over 200 registrations from around the world. Visit us here to watch the replay of all Neohumanist Education Exchange speakers and to sign up for future programs: https://www.nhca-gurukul.org/nhe-exchange
AMAYE Conference
Over 161 students registered for the Shine Brighter with Yoga Practices, an AMAYE and NHCA collaborative online conference. The conference included speakers Rutger Tamminga of Taiwan on The Biopsychology of Yama & Niyama, Ac. Pashupatiof USA on Prama: Anandamurti’s Balance Asanas, Didi Ananda Sainjana of Singapore on The Role of Yoga for our Nerves & Hormones; Shravan Kumar of USA on Situating Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar’s Yoga Psychology or Biopsychology Part 2; and Dada Krsnasevananda of Denmark on Making the Best Use of Mantra, Cakra & Visualization in Meditation. Our sincerest thanks to Mahajyoti Glassman and the AMAYE team for giving us an opportunity to partner for this event.
NHCA in partnership with the Mountain Breeze School organized a one-week new Teacher Development Program for the school’s expansion.
PRI
NHCA has also partnered with the Prout Research Institute (PRI), which is on our campus, to host an economic workshop and has launched a new Prout and Neohumanism course that is currently open for registration.
Neohumanist College of Asheville Press
Our Neohumanist College of Asheville Press has published its sixth children’s book with two more on deck to be published by the end of 2024. In the Spirit of the River is about the French broad river and is now on sale for $10.99.
Please check out all the book titles on our website at nhca.gurukul.edu.