Here are some well-known facts about our college:
- Our students come from many countries in Southern and Eastern Africa. Currently eight are represented.
- Many travel a long way to get to our campus in Swaziland. Some travel for a week or more on buses to arrive.
- Very few have the funds to make visits back home once they arrive and choose to stay on or near campus.
Because of the geographic diversity of our students and their desire to return to families at home, we have developed our curriculum in such a way to award a bachelor’s degree in three years rather than the four (or more!) years it often takes to complete. We don’t want to waste our student’s time while they are on campus, so we fill traditional holiday breaks (winter months) with classes. (Don’t worry, we still have breaks from classes, too!)
Our midmesters play a crucial role in being able to graduate students in three years. These intensive courses last from 8a-1p, Monday through Friday for two weeks. As such, students and lecturers still spend the same number of hours in the classroom as they do for a semester-long course. Often, students have pre-reading and post-assignments to complete as well.
Midmesters are also convenient for us in recruiting wonderful guest lecturers who are on break from their teaching roles. This year proved this to be true again.
In our first midmester, students learned from two South African visiting lecturers. Johan Smulders (East London) taught Social Psychology to our counselling students while Lynn Hendricks (Cape Town) taught Leadership and Assessment in Organizations. Samson Shadu, retired ACC lecturer and administrator, taught first year students in the Life and Teachings of Christ.
Our second midmester finished on July 13. Dr. Doug Foster of Abilene Christian University returned for the fifth time to teach Church History. Dr. Bruce Smith taught Community Health and HIV/AIDS to the first year students. Bruce and his wife are missionaries in Malawi after a career in public health in the USA.
