Australasian College of Health Sciences USA
Encyclopedia
American College of Healthcare Sciences (ACHS), based in Portland, Oregon
, United States, specializes in online holistic health distance education
. Founded in 1978, ACHS is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council
and Approved by the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization and is listed in the database for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation
.
The USA office opened in 1991 and became owned and operated independently from the New Zealand school in 1995. It has grown each year. In 1998, ACHS became state licensed by the Oregon Department of Education
. The Oregon Department of Education noted that it was the first state-licensed college in the U.S. offering distance education programs in holistic medicine.
ACHS moved from Lake Oswego to its present campus in SW Portland in 2002. The Portland, Oregon, campus includes a botanical teaching garden (public welcome), the Apothecary Shoppe College Store, and custom-designed and accessible classroom and administrative offices.
In 2003, ACHS became accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council
. Also in 2003, the name was changed from the Australasian College of Herbal Studies to the Australasian College of Health Sciences to reflect the expanded curricula of holistic medicine education programs available at ACHS.
In 2007, ACHS was approved by the Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization
to offer a Master of Science in Complementary Alternative Medicine. In 2008, ACHS was approved by the Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization
to offer an Associate of Applied Science in Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
In 2008, ACHS received its five-year re-accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council
along with accreditation for the new Associate of Applied Science in Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the Master of Science in Complementary Alternative Medicine.
In May 2009, ACHS changed its name from the "Australasian College of Health Sciences" to the "American College of Healthcare Sciences".
In January 2011, ACHS transitioned to a traditional semester system with three cohort starts per year Spring (January), Summer (May), and Fall (September). Students can continue to select full time, half time, or quarter time studies.
In January 2011, ACHS became an approved member of the International Federation of Essential Oils and Aroma Trades.
In April 2011, the Alliance of International Aromatherapists (AIA) approved the ACHS Certificate in Aromatherapy as a Level II approved aromatherapy program and the ACHS Diploma in Aromatherapy as a Level III Clinical Aromatherapy program.
Students choose to focus their studies in one of four areas: Aromatherapy
, Herbal Medicine, Holistic Medicine, or Dynamic Phytotherapy.
In January 2009, ACHS launched seven career-oriented certificate programs, including: Natural Products Manufacturing, Herbal Retail Management, Dynamic Phytotherapy Consulting, Wellness Consulting, Holistic Nutrition Consulting, Iridology
Consulting, and Homeopathy
. Later that year it launched six graduate-level certificate programs, including: Nutrition, Anatomy and Physiology, Complementary Alternative Medicine, Aromatherapy, Herbal Medicine, and Botanical Safety.
ACHS is the only nationally accredited College offering online certificate, diploma, undergraduate and graduate degree programs in complementary alternative medicine.
.
ACHS is located in the John's Landing area, at 5940 SW Hood Avenue. John's Landing is next to the Willamette River
in a blended retail, residential, and commercial neighborhood, and is about a five-minute drive from downtown Portland.
The campus includes the Botanical Teaching Garden, a demonstration garden open to the public which incorporates native
and non-native herbs. The garden has its own website including photographs of all stages of the year The campus also includes the Apothecary Shoppe, where the college hosts community wellness events and the public can purchase organic certified and sustainably wildcrafted essential oils and herbs. The Botanical Teaching Garden also has a small lavender
field planted alongside the footpath.
ACHS is also participates in the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program and was named a 2011 and 2010 Military Friendly School by G.I. Jobs magazine.
Select ACHS programs are approved for the use of Veteran's benefits by the Oregon Department of Education, the State Approving Agency. For information about Veteran's benefits and scholarships, contact the college.
As of September 2008, ACHS pledged their participation to PGE’s Save More, Matter More campaign. In replace of traditional power, ACHS has pledged to use renewable power, which makes use of clean wind to save energy, cut costs, and help the environment. For more information about this program and renewable energy, visit Save More, Matter More.
In 2009, ACHS formed the Sustainability Committee. Started by ACHS Vice President Erika Yigzaw, the Sustainability Committee works to promote sustainable practices on the ACHS campus and within the larger global community. The Sustainability Committee has a tree planting initiative for 2010, which will plant 10 trees for every 2010 Summer School in Greece participant. Current Committee members include: Vice President Erika Yigzaw, President Dorene Petersen, and Assistant Dean of Student Services Joel Strimling. Conservation and sustainability efforts include: an oxygen-producing herb garden, recycling office paper and kitchen trash, composting food scraps, and increased use of skylights for improved work conditions. A complete list of ACHS's sustainability initiatives is available on the College website.
In 2009 ACHS was approved by Green America's Green Business Network. Green American's Green Business Network is the nation’s only directory of screened and approved green businesses. Green America is a not-for-profit membership organization that was founded in 1982. Their mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.
In December 2010, the ACHS Apothecary Shoppe became Oregon Tilth Certified Organic (OTCO). OTCO is the certifying agent for the National Organic Program (NOP) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, United States, specializes in online holistic health distance education
Distance education
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...
. Founded in 1978, ACHS is accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council
Distance Education and Training Council
The Distance Education and Training Council is a non-profit national educational accreditation agency in the United States specializing in the accreditation of distance education institutions.- History :...
and Approved by the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization and is listed in the database for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation is a United States organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for self-regulation of academic quality through accreditation in order to certify the quality of higher education...
.
History
ACHS was originally founded in 1976 as the extramural or distance education department of an on-campus naturopathic college in Auckland, New Zealand. Dorene Petersen, a graduate of the South Pacific College of Natural Therapeutics, was assigned head of the new department. In 1978, ACHS split off into a stand-alone institution as the South Pacific College was going through accreditation by an accrediting agency that did not accredit distance learning. Dorene Petersen became the head of the new institution, which was named the Australasian College of Herbal Studies.The USA office opened in 1991 and became owned and operated independently from the New Zealand school in 1995. It has grown each year. In 1998, ACHS became state licensed by the Oregon Department of Education
Oregon Department of Education
The Department of Education of the U.S. state of Oregon is responsible for implementation of state policies with respect to public education at the kindergarten through community college level, including academic standards and testing, credentials, and other matters not reserved to the local...
. The Oregon Department of Education noted that it was the first state-licensed college in the U.S. offering distance education programs in holistic medicine.
ACHS moved from Lake Oswego to its present campus in SW Portland in 2002. The Portland, Oregon, campus includes a botanical teaching garden (public welcome), the Apothecary Shoppe College Store, and custom-designed and accessible classroom and administrative offices.
In 2003, ACHS became accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council
Distance Education and Training Council
The Distance Education and Training Council is a non-profit national educational accreditation agency in the United States specializing in the accreditation of distance education institutions.- History :...
. Also in 2003, the name was changed from the Australasian College of Herbal Studies to the Australasian College of Health Sciences to reflect the expanded curricula of holistic medicine education programs available at ACHS.
In 2007, ACHS was approved by the Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization
Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization
The Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization is a unit of the Oregon Student Assistance Commission with responsibilities related to maintaining high standards in private higher education institutions in Oregon...
to offer a Master of Science in Complementary Alternative Medicine. In 2008, ACHS was approved by the Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization
Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization
The Oregon State Office of Degree Authorization is a unit of the Oregon Student Assistance Commission with responsibilities related to maintaining high standards in private higher education institutions in Oregon...
to offer an Associate of Applied Science in Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
In 2008, ACHS received its five-year re-accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council
Distance Education and Training Council
The Distance Education and Training Council is a non-profit national educational accreditation agency in the United States specializing in the accreditation of distance education institutions.- History :...
along with accreditation for the new Associate of Applied Science in Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the Master of Science in Complementary Alternative Medicine.
In May 2009, ACHS changed its name from the "Australasian College of Health Sciences" to the "American College of Healthcare Sciences".
In January 2011, ACHS transitioned to a traditional semester system with three cohort starts per year Spring (January), Summer (May), and Fall (September). Students can continue to select full time, half time, or quarter time studies.
In January 2011, ACHS became an approved member of the International Federation of Essential Oils and Aroma Trades.
In April 2011, the Alliance of International Aromatherapists (AIA) approved the ACHS Certificate in Aromatherapy as a Level II approved aromatherapy program and the ACHS Diploma in Aromatherapy as a Level III Clinical Aromatherapy program.
Academic programs
The American College of Healthcare Sciences offers certificate programs, an Associate of Applied Science in Complementary Alternative Medicine, a Master of Science in Complementary Alternative Medicine, as well as several continuing education courses, community wellness workshops, and study-abroad programs.Students choose to focus their studies in one of four areas: Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine that uses volatile plant materials, known as essential oils, and other aromatic compounds for the purpose of altering a person's mind, mood, cognitive function or health....
, Herbal Medicine, Holistic Medicine, or Dynamic Phytotherapy.
In January 2009, ACHS launched seven career-oriented certificate programs, including: Natural Products Manufacturing, Herbal Retail Management, Dynamic Phytotherapy Consulting, Wellness Consulting, Holistic Nutrition Consulting, Iridology
Iridology
Iridology Iridology Iridology (also known as iridodiagnosis or iridiagnosis is an alternative medicine technique whose proponents claim that patterns, colors, and other characteristics of the iris can be examined to determine information about a patient's systemic health...
Consulting, and Homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
. Later that year it launched six graduate-level certificate programs, including: Nutrition, Anatomy and Physiology, Complementary Alternative Medicine, Aromatherapy, Herbal Medicine, and Botanical Safety.
Accreditation
ACHS is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education Training Council (DETC), which is recognized by both the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) as an accrediting body.ACHS is the only nationally accredited College offering online certificate, diploma, undergraduate and graduate degree programs in complementary alternative medicine.
Campus
In February 2003, the American College of Healthcare Sciences opened its new campus in Portland, OregonPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
.
ACHS is located in the John's Landing area, at 5940 SW Hood Avenue. John's Landing is next to the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
in a blended retail, residential, and commercial neighborhood, and is about a five-minute drive from downtown Portland.
The campus includes the Botanical Teaching Garden, a demonstration garden open to the public which incorporates native
Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a species is defined as native to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. Every natural organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as native...
and non-native herbs. The garden has its own website including photographs of all stages of the year The campus also includes the Apothecary Shoppe, where the college hosts community wellness events and the public can purchase organic certified and sustainably wildcrafted essential oils and herbs. The Botanical Teaching Garden also has a small lavender
Lavender
The lavenders are a genus of 39 species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. An Old World genus, distributed from Macaronesia across Africa, the Mediterranean, South-West Asia, Arabia, Western Iran and South-East India...
field planted alongside the footpath.
Organizations and Publications
ACHS publishes a monthly newsletter, The ACHS Reporter, both online and in print. Featured articles include: College news, industry updates, upcoming wellness events and conferences, alumni profiles, health freedom updates, and natural health research.Military Funding
The American College of Healthcare Sciences has been designated a Servicemembers Opportunity Consortium College (SOC). As a member of SOC, ACHS supports and complies with the SOC Principles and Criteria to ensure that servicemembers and their families: 1) share in the post-secondary educational opportunities available to other citizens; 2) are provided with appropriately accredited educational programs, courses, and services; and 3) receive enhanced access to American College's courses through flexible programs and procedures, including admissions, counseling, credit transfer, course articulations, recognition of nontraditional learning experiences, scheduling, and the ACHS online course format. For more information regarding the Servicemembers Opportunity College Consortium, visit the SOC website.ACHS is also participates in the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program and was named a 2011 and 2010 Military Friendly School by G.I. Jobs magazine.
Select ACHS programs are approved for the use of Veteran's benefits by the Oregon Department of Education, the State Approving Agency. For information about Veteran's benefits and scholarships, contact the college.
Community Wellness Education
ACHS frequently hosts community wellness classes and workshops on the John's Landing campus, which provide year-round opportunities for the community to learn about holistic health and wellness protocols. For those who cannot attend these events in person, many wellness workshops are filmed and posted as a health resource on ACHS TV.Sustainability
ACHS’s many classes focus on a holistic approach to health care and to the environment. All classes promote sustainability; for example, ACHS gardening classes explore composting and nutrition classes talk about the benefits of buying organic foods.As of September 2008, ACHS pledged their participation to PGE’s Save More, Matter More campaign. In replace of traditional power, ACHS has pledged to use renewable power, which makes use of clean wind to save energy, cut costs, and help the environment. For more information about this program and renewable energy, visit Save More, Matter More.
In 2009, ACHS formed the Sustainability Committee. Started by ACHS Vice President Erika Yigzaw, the Sustainability Committee works to promote sustainable practices on the ACHS campus and within the larger global community. The Sustainability Committee has a tree planting initiative for 2010, which will plant 10 trees for every 2010 Summer School in Greece participant. Current Committee members include: Vice President Erika Yigzaw, President Dorene Petersen, and Assistant Dean of Student Services Joel Strimling. Conservation and sustainability efforts include: an oxygen-producing herb garden, recycling office paper and kitchen trash, composting food scraps, and increased use of skylights for improved work conditions. A complete list of ACHS's sustainability initiatives is available on the College website.
In 2009 ACHS was approved by Green America's Green Business Network. Green American's Green Business Network is the nation’s only directory of screened and approved green businesses. Green America is a not-for-profit membership organization that was founded in 1982. Their mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.
In December 2010, the ACHS Apothecary Shoppe became Oregon Tilth Certified Organic (OTCO). OTCO is the certifying agent for the National Organic Program (NOP) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).