U*E
发帖数: 3620 | 1 The University of San Francisco's aggressive recruitment of students from
China - many of whom have trouble speaking English - has led to the
resignation of one of the campus' top business-school officials.
Dayle Smith, associate dean of undergraduate studies at the School of
Management, quit amid what some see as a tug-of-war between academic
integrity and the desire to diversify the prestigious private school through
aggressive recruitment.
This year, 781 of the 10,017 students enrolled at USF are Chinese nationals,
the vast majority of them in the business school. They're paying full
freight - $36,000 a year in tuition.
Some of the new students' language skills, however, were so poor that they
were given headsets for English-to-Mandarin translation during orientation.
Business school Dean Mike Webber said in his Sept. 8 letter to staffers
announcing Smith's exit that the "considerable increase" in foreign students
this year is not in and of itself a cause for concern.
"But given that so many of these students have weak English skills and are
disproportionately from one country, we are going to be faced with some
unique pedagogical and cultural challenges," he wrote.
Webber - who did not return calls for comment - added that Smith feared that
USF's way of handling the gap might "dilute the educational experience for
all" the school's business students. Smith did not return calls seeking
comment.
USF Provost Jennifer Turpin said the flap was the result of a difference of
opinion over how far the campus should go to accommodate Chinese students.
She acknowledged that many of the new students have poor English skills -
which is why they are being brought in on a "conditional" basis and are
being given extra help.
Turpin said the debate came down to how the extra help should be
administered - through the university's individual schools or through a
central study center.
However, according to Webber, Smith "felt there was a real failure on the
part of the university to understand these unique challenges and how they
will impact" the business school.
"We have all kinds of different views on campus," Turpin said. "That's why
we love universities." |
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