New Programs at UC for Fall 2000

"LINC UP" FIGHTS FIRST-YEAR FAILURES Nationwide, an estimated 27 percent of the 1.64 million students who started college last fall dropped out. A new program at UC is designed to prevent those first-year failures. The program is called "LINC Up @ UC," for "Learning in New Communities." Learning communities provide freshmen with a network of support to help them make it through their first year. More than 300 UC freshmen signed up for learning communities this fall. The service places first-year students in groups of 20-25 students who share two or three of the same classes, according to Wayne Hall, the program coordinator. Most students are majoring in Arts and Sciences, but there are two groups in the College of Education, two in University College, and two in the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning.

BACK TO SCHOOL OR BON VOYAGE? Back to school at UC doesn't necessarily mean back to school at UC, anymore. Study abroad is gaining greater support through UC's Globalization Initiative. The first day of fall quarter, as a result, will find sophomore Nicholas Lawson, a digital design major, not on the Clifton Avenue campus, but at the University of Westminster in London. "I am going to one of the best design schools in America, and I wanted to go to one of the best design schools overseas too," said Lawson. UC recorded a 32.4 percent increase in students studying abroad during 1997-98, more than double the national trend. Nearly 400 UC students now study abroad each year.

TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY UC's College of Education will formally introduce its new partnership to improve teaching and learning with technology when a one-day conference is held 7:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25 at the Kingsgate Conference Center. The Comprehensive Education Restructuring and Technology Infusion Initiative (CERTI) is a $2.7 million, three year plan to incorporate the latest technology standards into UC's teacher training program. Students will demonstrate new electronic portfolios at the conference.

DISTANCE LEARNING DEGREE More students around Ohio will be able to earn a UC bachelor's degree in addictions studies without leaving their hometowns. Sinclair Community College and North Central State Community College entered into agreements with UC to provide addiction studies degrees to students through video conferencing. Students at Lima Technical College, Central Ohio Technical College, Columbus State College and Terra Community College also can earn the degree via distance learning. The Addiction Studies Program is sanctioned by the Ohio Credentialing Board for Chemical Dependency Professionals.

BUSINESS EDUCATION UPGRADES The Cleveland Foundation's $1.5 million gift to UC's College of Business Administration (CBA) will support new technologies for business education. CBA has earmarked the money for expansion of video teleconferencing and information technology facilities, development of on-line finance courses, lifelong learning for business professionals, and evaluation of best practices in technology-based continuing education. Associate professor of marketing Raj Mehta will begin using the video conferencing technology this fall in two courses. The courses will link UC students with business and marketing students in Canada and Finland.