University Business - June 2011 - (Page 12)

BEHIND the NEws Tornados Force Institutions to Shutter Lessons learned from natural disasters The Tornados ThaT ripped across the south in april devastated everything in their paths. some institutions had to close their doors before semester’s end. in Tuscaloosa, ala., home of the University of Alabama, an april 27 tornado killed at least five Ua students. officials cancelled classes, scheduled to end two days later, and exams, scheduled for the week of May 2. students were given the option of accepting their grades as of april 27, or taking a final exam at a later date, shares Cathy andreen, director of media relations at Ua. “Faculty worked directly with students who requested to take an exam to make arrangements to do so.” Commencement ceremonies, originally planned for May 7, have been postponed until august 6. Further north, Saint Augustine’s College (n.C.) closed briefly after a tornado touched down in raleigh april 16. But, nearby Shaw University had to cancel classes for the rest of the semester after some dorms and the student center were damaged. dealing with how to repay students after classes or semesters are cancelled is a difficult decision, and what’s best for the institution and the students must be taken into account, explains Tulane University (La.) president scott s. Cowen. The school is still recovering from hurricane Katrina, which hit in august 2005 and caused it to become the first major university to close for an entire semester since the Civil War. Tulane cancelled its fall semester when some students had paid and others had not. officials worked with other institutions and organizations to ensure students had somewhere to study in the interim, and to ensure credits would transfer back to Tulane. anyone who paid fall 2005 tuition could register for an extended summer term in 2006. The university lost $650 million as a result of Katrina, but “since then, we have grown at a very fast rate on all metrics that are important to the university,” says Cowen. U While Cowen explains he can’t speculate what Tulane would do if a semester needed to be cancelled partway through, he does have advice for others who may be affected by a natural disaster. “if you don’t give them refunds, you probably need to think about what we did, extending the summer term, or some other vehicle for earning credits from your institution,” he says. –Kristen Domonell Help in Addressing Learning Disabilities any adMinisTraTor KnoWs ThaT sTUdenTs Who struggle academically are more likely to drop out. While colleges and universities might have programs in place to address these challenges, another perspective is always helpful. “i think the presidents and deans are looking at it as a retention problem, not a learning problem,” suggests steve Fadden, a vice president at Landmark College (Vt.). serving students with ad/hd, anxiety disorders, asperger’s syndrome, and other “invisible disabilities” is Landmark’s mission, and now Landmark is providing workshops and training to K-20 educators to help them better serve this population through the Landmark College institute for research and Training. “We go to individual institutions and help them identify what they are doing well and where they need Landmark College is helping other institutions address student learning challenges. to improve,” Fadden says, adding that the institute “helps raise awareness about what we are doing, but also raise the issue that ‘learning disabilities’ aren’t unique to students with labels.” he says that, as medical science becomes better at diagnosing and labeling these challenges, it is easier for educators to address them, such as through teaching strategies like Universal design, which are meant to address learning challenges and will often benefit the general population, as well. But serving this population is not always easy. one reason might be the workload in the disability office, another is that students might not be requesting help. as Fadden points out, coping mechanisms they used in high school don’t always work for college. serving these students is also an ada-compliance issue. and then there’s the notion that simple steps, such as providing students with testing accommodations, can be what’s needed for them to graduate, get jobs, and become alumni. “if instead, they drop out, that hurts all of us,” Fadden says. For more information on the Landmark College institute for research and Training, see www.landmark.edu/institute. —Ann McClure 12 | June 2011 universitybusiness.com http://www.landmark.edu/institute http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - June 2011

University Business - June 2011
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Financial Aid
Independent Outlook
Four Fearsome Risks
Safra One Year Later
The Power of Green
Viewpoint
What's New
Internet Technology
End Note

University Business - June 2011