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May/June
2002
COVER
PAGE PRACTICAL
INFORMATION REGIONAL
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Regional
News
CANADAOnline Service Speeds Transcript Exchange
The first phase of the project has seven of the 27 universities participating; most of the others will likely join later in the year. It cost nearly US$100,000 to set up, but some say the future savings in postal stamps will recoup those expenses - there are about 250,000 requests for transcripts every year in the province, all of which were formally transported via snail mail. As transcripts can now be sent electronically, officials say admissions decisions will take place at a much faster pace. The seven institutions included in the first phase of the project are British Columbia Institute of Technology, Douglas College, Kwantlen University College, Malaspina University-College, Okanagan University College, Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia. —
The
Chronicle of Higher Education Web-Based Learning Initiative to Debut at LaSalle College
The program will enable instructors and students to connect from remote locations and engage in an interactive classroom environment. LaSalle will also offer self-paced training modules so students can go at their own speed. The LaSalle College Group, comprised of 23 educational institutions in Canada, serves more than 10,000 students a year, is based in Montreal and offers its instruction in English, French and Spanish. LaSalle expects that by fall 2003, more than 200 students will be participating in its distance-learning program. —
La
Salle College UNITED STATESSchools
Get First Look at System for Tracking Students
Before a
foreign student can apply for a visa, he or she will have to be accepted
by a school, which will enter the student's name and identifying information
into the database. The student then must pay a $95 registration fee and
be issued a paper receipt. That receipt will have to be presented, along
with the school's acceptance letter, to a U.S. Embassy or Consulate when
the student seeks a visa. SEVIS will monitor a foreign student's arrival
in the country, if the student enrolls and shows up for class at the beginning
of the term and it will also track whether the student takes a required
course load, drops out, is expelled or commits a crime. Starting the system will cost nearly $37 million, and there is speculation as to whether SEVIS will be ready by the proposed Jan 30 deadline. Schools will be able to use the new system voluntarily as early as July 1. All institutions that admit foreign students will be required to use it by Jan. 30. —
The
Star Tribune Portrait of U.S. College Students is Changing
A report
entitled "Access
& Persistence", published in May by the American
Council on Education reveals that about three-quarters of all students
currently work while earning a four-year degree. A quarter of all students
hold full-time jobs. Some of the
report's other findings include: • Among
9 million students earning bachelor's degrees, 40 percent came straight
from high school, attended classes full time and worked part time —
or not at all — while their parents paid the cost of school. • While
64 percent of students earned a bachelor's degree within five years, another
16 percent were still enrolled five years later. The remaining 20 percent
had left school. • Less than half of college students, 47 percent, stayed enrolled at the school where their studies began and earned a degree there within five years. —
The
Pioneer Press New Policy
Bars Part-Time Students from Mexico, Canada
Officials at some institutions complained about the lack of warning with regard to the announcement. Under the new policy, part-time students in continuing education programs that started before May 22 may be allowed to complete their courses through the end of their current session, but will not be permitted to sign up for courses on a part-time basis after that. —
The
Chronicle of Higher Education 'New Mindset' Needed to Help Latino Students
The report asserts that despite enormous increases in Latino populations in the United States, Latino students continually lag behind in everything from high school-graduation rates to college enrollment. It proposes a need for widespread adoption of "a totally new mindset" among policymakers and educators alike, a mindset that sees Latino students not as disadvantaged and deficient, but as capable of learning. The report also suggests the situation is getting worse, and that the Southwest is no longer an isolated hotbed of Latino students but a beacon for the entire country. Between 1990 and 2000, the Latino population in Arizona grew 88 percent. Latinos now make up one-third of the state's school-age population. The state also has the highest high school-dropout rate in the country, led in large part by Latinos — of last year's 26,000 dropouts, 42 percent were Latinos. —
The
Arizona Republic MEXICOGraduate Program Teaches Educational Technology Online
The MET Program
is a professional development program aimed at education professionals
working in technology-supported learning environments and/or interested
in exploring issues related to education and technology. The program was
designed to allow students to focus on their area of teaching/education
expertise — either the adult/postsecondary sector or the primary/secondary
(K-12) sector. Students can choose between the 10-course master's degree
or one of two five-course certificate programs: the postgraduate certificate
in technology-based distributed learning, or the postgraduate certificate
in technology-based learning for schools. Students can also opt for individual
courses, as well. Not only
will students have access to knowledge from two institutions, they will
be able to participate in the course regardless of their location. Classes
will be offered in both English and Spanish. —
UB
Faculty of Education PERUCampus
Officials Say Maoist Rebels are Back
In May, a government official announced he had credible evidence that members of the Shining Path guerilla movement, a militant Maoist group, are attempting to organize on college campuses. Terrorism experts and university officials share the government's concerns. Sources familiar with the Shining Path movement say the guerrilla group is attempting to make inroads with students at several institutions, including San Marcos National University, where Shining Path pamphlets and graffiti have turned up recently. Other institutions mentioned were Daniel Alcides Carrión National University in Cerro de Pasco, in the central highlands, and the National University of the Altiplano, in Puno. Shining Path,
which declared war on the Peruvian government in 1980, was a powerful
force on campuses around the country in the early 1990s. The rebel group
began losing its grip on students in 1992, when most of its leaders were
arrested. The Peruvian military occupied San Marcos and several other
campuses for most of the 1990s. —
The
Chronicle of Higher Education
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To save time and money, several universities in British Columbia recently
unveiled a new service that allows them to transfer student transcripts
online.