Coastal Carolina University’s E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration is the first U.S. business school to be accepted as a member of the Consortium of International Double Degrees (CIDD). David DeCenzo, dean of the Wall College, and Darla Domke-Damonte, international programs liaison for the Wall College, represented Coastal at the induction ceremony as part of CIDD’s annual meeting, held April 22 to 24 in Riga, Latvia.

The consortium consists of 18 university business schools, primarily in Europe and Asia, that work together to promote international business education. The goals of the consortium are to establish high standards for double degree programs and to encourage mutually beneficial partnerships between member universities.

“Accreditation standards in U.S. business schools emphasize the importance of developing international expertise among students and alumni, and at the same time, the ERASMUS-MUNDUS Program of the European Union has developed a mandate to increase international collaboration between EU members and with institutions outside the European Union,” said Domke-Damonte. “The result is a coming together of initiatives for which CCU is ideally positioned.”

“As a growing institution committed to the highest standards, we are very excited about the possibilities that this relationship creates for our student, faculty and community,” said DeCenzo.

The Wall College of Business has double degree relationships with the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain) and the International Fachhochschule Bad Honnef (Germany) in International Tourism Management, and with the University of Applied Sciences Mainz (Germany) and the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (Germany) in International Business.

Coastal’s first dual degree students graduated last year, and in May 2004 graduation ceremonies the university will recognize nine students completing dual degree program requirements: Jessica Mogel, Cynthia Stoklosa, Ralshon Douglas, Andreas Herzog, Christian Scherer, Linda Rubin, Torsten Kopp, Sergi Barquinero and Pere Collar.

Students who participate in these programs complete requirements for both degree programs and receive both institutions’ degrees at the conclusion of the program. In most cases, students can complete all requirements for both degrees within the traditional four years of education. Moreover, because of the unique agreements that Coastal has with these institutions, CCU students study abroad at cost-effective rates.