ACUHO-I News Blog

This week, Inside HigherEd features articles on the growth in Chinese applicants; students from virtual high schools and an analysis of which student aid programs really work.

EVALUATING ONLINE APPLICANTS: With the growth of virtual high schools, new issue surfaces for admissions officers.

‘THE CHINESE ARE COMING’: Colleges in U.S. see dramatic increases in undergraduate applications from world’s most populous nation — and face ethical issues raised by the way students are recruited and coached.

FORWARD INTO THE CLOUD: With more students auto-forwarding e-mail to private accounts, even colleges  that have not outsourced their e-mail find it difficult to keep correspondence on their own servers.

WHAT WORKS FOR THE NEEDY:Analysis of which financial aid programs most help low-income students says that simplicity often trumps targeting and finds promise in aid tied to academic performance and support services.

GROUP CHEMISTRY: U. of Maryland Baltimore County uses classroom technology and shifts student roles to boost grades, attendance, and retention in chemistry courses.

Those who attended the ACUHO-I China Study Tour last January were impacted by the commitment Chinese students showed their education and the gratitude they had for the chance for a college education. A story in the New York Times last week highlights the obsessive approach students take toward the gao kao, (“high test”); the nation’s college admission test.

The test takes nine hours to complete and is offered only once a year. More than 10 million students are expected to take the test this year. About 60 percent usually score high enough to be considered for college acceptance. The article repeats a Chinese saying that compares the exam to a stampede of “a thousand soldiers and 10 horses across a single log bridge.”

All of this is for the chance to be a part of China’s higher learning system that includes more than 1,900 institutions (almost twice as many as in 2000) and nearly 19 million students (six times more than a decade ago).

Read more here.

The May+June 2009 issue of the Talking Stick magazine is now out, available through the postal service or in its online format. The cover story, this time, is a photo essay from the ACUHO-I study tour of China as well as the ACUHO-I Global Housing Summit. Some amazing photos taken by ACUHO-I members as well as written reflections from those who were there capture the experience and shares it with the membership at large.

Other stories this issue include a piece co-written by ACUHO-I president Norb Dunkel and ACPA president Tom Jackson that addresses how campus housing and student affairs departments must work together to further the “international” missions of their campuses. Luke LaCroix shines the light on sophomore programs. Tonie Miyamoto looks at LEED. Plus much more news from ACUHO-I and the college housing profession.

Read the latest issue and share your thoughts about it either in the comments below, or in the forum of the ACUHO-I online network.

Check out Central China Normal University, in Wuhan in Hubei province.