Career Education Corporation (CEC) (NASDAQ: CECO), a global provider of
postsecondary education programs and services, today announced a number
of executive moves to bolster the company’s management team, realign and
simplify the organization structure, and help CEC navigate its
regulatory, legal and political environment – consistent with strategies
outlined earlier in the year.
As part of these changes, the company will organize its more than 90
campuses – serving approximately 95,000 students – into University,
Career, and International Education Groups. The previously announced
plan to establish three education segments, versus the current six, will
concentrate and enhance academic focus, consolidate and align similar
institutions and better position the company in a competitive
marketplace through fewer, stronger institutional brands.
University Education Group
Jason T. Friesen, who has held a number of leadership roles at CEC, has
been named Senior Vice President, Chief University Education Officer.
The new organization Friesen leads includes CEC’s two flagship higher
education institutions – Colorado Technical University (CTU) and
American InterContinental University (AIU).
Founded in 1965, CTU offers associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral
degrees through a combination of online and ground-based campuses. AIU,
founded in 1970, provides a wide range of undergraduate and graduate
degrees that also can be achieved online and through traditional
coursework. Both institutions offer students award-winning Online
Virtual Campuses.
Friesen has led CEC’s health institutions since the beginning of the
year. He implemented significant improvements in academic quality,
program integrity and operational excellence of those career-focused
institutions. Friesen, who holds an M.B.A. degree from the University of
Chicago, has broad financial experience at CEC and other publicly-traded
companies. His recent role at the company included management and
operational responsibility for 43 career health institutions.
CTU will be led by Jack Koehn as Acting President. Koehn, who serves as
President of CTU Online and as the university’s Chief Operating Officer,
holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Indiana University. He will
be supported by CTU’s veteran academic leadership team that includes Dr.
Constance Johnson, Provost and Chief Academic Officer, and Dr. David
Leasure, Chancellor. Koehn replaces Jeremy Wheaton who, after 17 years
of diverse experience at CEC as well as the past year leading CTU, has
resigned to pursue his own entrepreneurial interests. To help ensure a
smooth and orderly transition, Wheaton will remain on the CTU Board of
Trustees, and also serve through the end of the year as a consultant to
CEC.
AIU continues to be led by University President Dr. George Miller, who
has served that institution for eight years and played a pivotal role in
building and enhancing AIU’s academic programs and student services. He
holds a doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Virginia
and a master’s degree in Educational Psychology from the University of
Tennessee. A former professor, Miller earlier served as president of two
colleges.
Career Education Group
As previously announced, Daniel J. Hurdle recently joined CEC as Senior
Vice President, Chief Career Education Officer. Hurdle leads the new,
consolidated Career Education Group, encompassing more than 70 culinary,
health, and art, design and technology education institutions serving
more than 40,000 students across the United States. The Career Education
Group includes the renowned Le Cordon Bleu culinary education programs
in the U.S., Sanford-Brown allied health institutions and the
International Academy of Design & Technology.
Hurdle brings a successful operating and strategic background to the
task of consolidating the company’s career-focused campuses, as well as
considerable experience with complex business turnarounds. Hurdle will
lead efforts to gain synergies and greater competitive advantage from
fewer, more focused institutional brands.
During the course of the next few months, Friesen, who had been leading
CEC's health campuses, will help support the transition of
responsibility for these institutions, which will be directly led by
Hurdle.
Hurdle joined CEC from Caribou Coffee Company, the second largest
premium coffeehouse in the United States, where he most recently served
as Senior Vice President, Retail. Hurdle led Caribou’s more than 580
coffeehouses, including all company-operated and franchise locations in
the U.S., as well as international franchise stores. Previously, Hurdle
held senior positions at Washington Mutual and Starbucks Coffeehouse
Company. He holds a master’s degree in Management Science from Cambridge
University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and a B.S. degree in
Control Systems Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy.
International Education Group
Michael J. Graham, CEC’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer (CFO), will continue to lead the company’s International
Education Group, in addition to his role as CFO. Graham, who holds an
M.B.A. degree from the University of Chicago, has held key financial and
management positions at other publicly-traded companies as well as his
five-year tenure as an executive at CEC.
CEC’s international academic offerings include the Paris-based INSEEC
institutions, which offer high quality undergraduate and master’s
programs in business as well as executive education programs across
France. Catherine Lespine continues to lead these institutions as
Managing Director, INSEEC Group. A graduate of the ESCP Business School,
Lespine initially joined INSEEC as a member of its faculty, and
previously taught Management and Strategy at two other French
universities. The international group also offers campuses and programs
in London as well as the International University of Monaco, which
recently began offering an online Executive MBA program leveraging CEC’s
award-winning Virtual Campus technology. Graham and his leadership team
will seek to expand CEC’s international footprint, leveraging the
company’s base in Western Europe.
External Relations & Regulatory Affairs
Given CEC’s complex and multi-tiered regulatory environment – coupled
with the political and public scrutiny of all private postsecondary
institutions – the company also has taken measures to help better
address these influences. Tony Mitchell, a veteran public affairs and
public relations executive with nearly two decades of political and
government experience in Washington, D.C., was recently named the
company’s Senior Vice President, Chief Communications and Public Affairs
Officer. Mitchell leads CEC’s corporate and employee communications,
government relations, public affairs, and community relations functions.
Additionally, Diane Auer Jones, who served as Assistant Secretary for
Postsecondary Education with the U.S. Department of Education and as
senior staff at the White House and on Capitol Hill, has expanded her
responsibilities as the company’s Vice President for External and
Regulatory Affairs. Jones now oversees the corporate and campus
regulatory teams and will help drive CEC’s regulatory compliance as well
as its engagement with state education bodies, regional and national
accreditors and the U.S. Department of Education. The company also is
conducting a national search to add a Chief Compliance Officer to CEC’s
leadership team.
"I am confident this executive team of leaders will further enhance
academic excellence at our higher education institutions to support our
broad and diverse student population,” said Steven H. Lesnik, Chairman,
President and Chief Executive Officer of CEC. “Together, these
executives will put our students first, strengthen our stakeholder
relationships and regulatory compliance and drive greater synergies and
growth opportunities for CEC. I am excited to have this leadership team
in place to advance and execute the company’s business plans and
strategies.”
Lesnik added: “Further, I want to thank Jeremy Wheaton for his many
contributions to our organization and his stewardship at CTU for the
past year. Jeremy is an energetic leader who will be missed by the team
at CTU and his colleagues at CEC. I am pleased that he has decided to
continue his role on the CTU Board of Trustees and to consult with CEC,
which will greatly contribute to an orderly and effective transition. I
am confident that Jack Koehn and the strong academic leadership team in
place at CTU will continue to provide our students high quality
programs, state-of-the-art education technology and an outstanding
education experience.”
About Career Education Corporation
The colleges, schools and universities that are part of the Career
Education Corporation ("CEC") family offer high-quality education to a
diverse population of approximately 95,000 students across the world in
a variety of career-oriented disciplines through online, on-ground and
hybrid learning program offerings. The more than 90 campuses that serve
these students are located throughout the United States and in France,
the United Kingdom and Monaco, and offer doctoral, master's, bachelor's
and associate degrees and diploma and certificate programs.
CEC is an industry leader whose institutions are recognized globally.
Those institutions include, among others, American InterContinental
University ("AIU"); Brooks Institute; Colorado Technical University
("CTU"); Harrington College of Design; INSEEC Group ("INSEEC") Schools;
International University of Monaco ("IUM"); International Academy of
Design & Technology ("IADT"); Le Cordon Bleu North America ("LCB"); and
Sanford-Brown Institutes and Colleges. Through its schools, CEC is
committed to providing high-quality education, enabling students to
graduate and pursue rewarding career opportunities.
For more information, see CEC's website at www.careered.com.
The website includes a detailed listing of individual campus locations
and web links to CEC's colleges, schools, and universities.
Except for the historical and present factual information contained
herein, the matters set forth in this release, including statements
identified by words such as “will,” "anticipate," "believe," "plan,"
"expect," "intend," "should," "potential" and similar expressions, are
forward-looking statements as defined in Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are based on
information currently available to us and are subject to various
assumptions, risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our
results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, performance,
business prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those
expressed in, or implied by, these statements. Except as expressly
required by the federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to
update or revise such factors or any of the forward-looking statements
contained herein to reflect future events, developments or changed
circumstances, or for any other reason. These risks and uncertainties,
the outcomes of which could materially and adversely affect our
financial condition and operations, include, but are not limited to, the
following: our continued compliance with and eligibility to
participate in Title IV Programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965,
as amended, and the regulations thereunder (including the "90-10 Rule"),
as well as regional and national accreditation standards and state
regulatory requirements; our ability to obtain accrediting agency
approvals for existing, changed or new programs and to successfully
defend litigation and other claims brought against us; rulemaking by the
U.S. Department of Education and increased focus by the U.S. Congress
and governmental agencies on for-profit education institutions; changes
in enrollment, student mix and average registered credits taken by
students; our ability to implement effective cost reduction strategies;
and changes in the overall U.S. or global economy. Further
information about these and other relevant risks and uncertainties may
be found in CEC’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2011 and its subsequent filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
