AKAMAI'S EDUCATION PROGRAMS Our Model of Distance Learning Our Programs of Study The Problems We Address OUR MODEL OF DISTANCE LEARNING Akamai University is an international graduate school dedicated to the advancement of the human community. Our graduate programs are conducted in an individualized and self-paced manner, consistent with our student's personal and professional interests. At the frontier of online learning, our graduate students receive one-on-one mentorship in the conduct of their academic study and research. Programs are fully external, with no residency requirements, and no travel demands. Mid-career professionals appreciate the empowerment inherent within our model of education. It is our intent that our graduates receive the personal development and preparation necessary for professional achievement. Our primary educational objective is to provide meaningful programs individualized to the academic and professional goals of our students. Qualified faculty oversee the design and development of each student's individualized plan for study. Our students are freed to think beyond the confines of the classroom, building achievement and new learning fully engaged with their professional lives. Akamai students create and evaluate, do independent and original thinking, make judgments, communicate unique ideas, feelings and experiences, and design effective solutions within "real life" situations. The nature of this type of outcome contributes in a powerful manner to the development of effectiveness for innovative career-minded adults. We encourage our students to personalize their studies to address the important needs of their home communities and the changing demands of their professions. We deliver our programs in a manner that is meaningful and relevant to the professional responsibilities and life-style of working adults. Our students are freed from traditional residency requirements, and are allowed to pursue advanced study in a self-paced manner while maintaining full time employment and family commitments. Akamai offers a full array of graduate programs for individuals wishing to undertake meaningful studies in the fields of applied psychology, business and economic development, ecological and environmental studies, education and literacy, genealogical studies, health and wellness, sustainability studies, peace, diplomacy, and international relations, and transpersonal psychology. Return to Top THE WORLDWIDE PROBLEMS WE ADDRESS Roughly 1.3 billion people live in absolute poverty with nearly 25 million being added to their numbers each year. Hundreds of millions of people have no running water to drink or bathe themselves. One hundred million people do not have homes to live in and must spend their lives on the streets and pavements, their children never knowing the security of a suitable shelter. (World Bank and the United Nations) Already, more than ten percent of the earth's vegetated surface has been degraded, an area larger than India and China combined. This desertification, caused by overgrazing domestic animals, over-cultivation, salinization, and deforestation, has already begun to impact over 35 percent of the land surface of the Earth and the situation is worsening (United Nations Environmental Program). The children of many nations suffer appalling abuses at the hands of their own countrymen and represent a huge and voiceless population seldom represented in the international human rights arena. Street children are frequently abused by police, or imprisoned in inhumane conditions. Because of their vulnerable condition, young people are often used as soldiers, and bonded laborers. Governments are known to perpetrate or acquiesce in systematic human rights violations against women, citing customs and rigid concepts of privacy as justifications for the subordination of women. (Human Rights Watch) Human culture now has the potential to inflict irreversible damage on the environment and on its life sustaining systems and resources. Already, critical stress suffered by our environment is clearly manifest in the air, water, and soil, our climate, and plant and animal species. Should this deterioration be allowed to continue, we can expect to alter the living world to the extent that it will be unable to sustain life, as we know it. (Union of Concerned Scientists) More than half the World population lacks access to the badly needed essential drugs. More than 150 million children are born every year worldwide and approximately 10% of these will never see their fifth birthday. One child dies every other second, due to malnutrition, hunger and poverty. It is estimated that one quarter of the World population is subject to chronic intestinal parasitic infections, which have insidious effects on growth, malnutrition, and cognitive functions. (World Health Organization, World Health Report) Return to Top