Issue link: http://ncumarketing.uberflip.com/i/1471947
4 both the state and national levels of AAMFT, joining every committee that would avail us of opportunities to bring about changes that would allow us to be successful. As the policies of COAMFTE and state licensure boards slowly gave way to the acceptance of online education, we set our sights on becoming the first online COAMFTE accredited program in the world. One of my fondest memories of this was the day before our accreditation application was due. We all stayed on a video conference (nothing like Zoom is today) throughout the night to get it completed, edited, and polished to submit. I remember ending our call just in time to make eggs for my kids before they went off to school. While we were exhausted, the excitement of breaking this barrier kept us going (coffee didn't hurt either). The time came for our site visit, COAMFTE had never conducted a site visit for an online program before, so we worked hard to make sure all the questions could be answered, and we had all the data to support our application. The site visit took place at the Prescott campus, and we were all there to prepare and work on any last-minute issues. The work was immense, being the first, but we always found time for fun. It has been about 15 years since Dr. Henline had his interview with Dr. Hecht and was hired to make this dream a reality. We have gone from a handful of students to become the largest and most diverse MFT training program in the world (currently, we have 1,900 MAMFT students and 435 doctoral students, with 54% being students of color). We made MFT education history by being the first online COAMFTE Accredited Master's program (Nov. 1, 2012) and the first online COAMFTE Accredited PhD program (May 1, 2015). We have over 1,000 MAMFT graduates and nearly 100 doctoral degree graduates who are changing the world. We estimate that since NCU's first MFT students in 2006, over 1 million hours of therapy have been provided by our students during their degree programs. Roughly 85% of these therapy hours have been provided in marginalized or underserved communities both within the United States and around the world. The NCU, MFT faculty is arguably the largest MFT faculty in existence (132 MFT faculty). It has a diverse faculty body with a vast scope of expertise. We could have never imagined how great an impact this would have when we started, and we are humbled to have been but a small part in making it happen. As systems thinkers, we know that the only constant is change, and we are in the middle of a significant and far-reaching change. Because of who we are, there is no doubt that we will find our new homeostasis as we unite with National University and identify new barriers to break and dreams to realize. We made new friends along the way and shared laughs and tears. We celebrated successes and grieved the loss of dear friends. We've truly taken the road less traveled and are all the better for it. All this will continue as we unite into the new NU SSBS. We look forward to the future with this talented and dedicated group of professional colleagues and those we have yet to meet.