Bellevue University First Accredited University to Partner with Federal Acquisition Institute; New Partnership also includes Defense Acquisition University.

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Bellevue University has the distinction of being the first accredited university selected by the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) as an education partner. At the same time, Bellevue University was chosen to support the Department of Defense as it helps the rest of the federal government leverage innovative education programs through the Defense Acquisition University (DAU).

A signing ceremony of the agreement will take place June 16, 2006 at 9:30 a.m. at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Bellevue University was selected because of its work with military personnel in earning college degrees as well as its nationally recognized online programs. Defense Acquisition University was established in 1991 to oversee the acquisition training for the 135,000 civilian and military employees of the Department of Defense. The Federal Acquisition Institute has operated for more than two decades, supporting the professional development of the federal acquisition workforce in the Department of Treasury, the FBI, the Coast Guard, and more recently, Homeland Security, among others.

The partnership is significant because of two laws, the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) Act, both of which mandate training and college education for all military and civilian government employees who work with government contracts. Persons working in government acquisitions are required to have 24 credit hours in business and management courses such as accounting, law, business, economics, purchasing, etc. The intent of the legislation is to improve the effectiveness of the people who manage defense and non-defense acquisitions on behalf of the Federal government.

Over the past year Bellevue University has been working with DAU senior leadership to define critical human capital issues and develop cost effective approaches to aid the federal government address high priority workforce learning needs. Work in human capital investment published by Dr. Michael Echols, Bellevue University Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, combined with the university's distance learning and adult learning expertise, has proven to be valuable to the DAU in the development of a human capital strategy.

Participating at the signing ceremony will be Frank J. Anderson, President, Defense Acquisition University, Karen Pica, Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Institute and Dr. Michael Echols, Ph.D., Vice President Strategic Initiatives, Bellevue University.

For more information on Strategic Initiatives or on Dr. Echols' work on Human Capital investment visit www.corporatelearning.com

Note to media professionals: For more information on Bellevue University, visit www.bellevueuniversity.info

Bellevue University is a recognized national leader in providing post-secondary education opportunities for working adults. A private, non-profit institution, Bellevue University serves students at 10 learning sites in three states, as well as worldwide through its online learning platform, Cyber-Active(R) Learning. Bellevue University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. For more information, visit www.bellevue.edu.