File photo of Dickinson State University. The majority of the degrees in question were granted to Chinese students, the remainder to Russian students, according to the report. |
Hundreds of foreign students in a joint degree program at a North Dakota state university were admitted despite lacking credentials and awarded degrees without completing coursework, an audit of the program has showed. According to a review of the procedures in place for certain international programs at Dickinson State University, just 10 of the 410 foreign students awarded joint degrees since 2003 actually fulfilled all required course work. The majority of the degrees in question were granted to Chinese students, the remainder to Russian students, according to the report. Most of the students' files were also missing general administrative paper work including enrollment transcripts, partner campus documents, course substitution forms and language proficiency evaluations, the report said. The audit finding, released Friday, is the second black mark on the US higher education system in as many weeks. Just two weeks ago, Claremont McKenna College in California disclosed it had inflated the standardized test scores of incoming freshman in a bid to boost its reputation. The audit conducted by the North Dakota State University System and the State Board of Higher Education showed "seriously lacking controls and oversight" of these international degree programs. "Several process level controls have been waived or controls that were once in place have been intentionally overridden or ignored, threatening the overall compliance of the program," the report said. According to the audit results, the school did not verify students were completing general education classes and degrees were awarded with out sufficient credits completed. Of the 816 students enrolled in the special international programs since 2003, the review found 743 files in question, the results showed. Stopping the programs, reworking policies and procedures, accepting only official-sealed transcripts and reviewing agreements with foreign student recruiters were among the recommendations presented to Dickinson State. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
近日,一項對美國北達科他州狄克森州立大學的審計報告發(fā)現(xiàn),該校一項聯(lián)合學位計劃錄取了數(shù)百名不具備入學資格的外國學生,并且在學生沒有完成課程的情況下授予學位。 根據(jù)這項針對狄克森州立大學特定國際招生項目的審計報告,自2003年開始,這所大學410名被授予學位的外國學生中,只有10個人真正完成了所有必需的課程。 這一審計報告指出,大多數(shù)“問題學位”被授予了中國學生,其余的則被授予了俄羅斯學生。 審計報告中還披露,大部分學生檔案缺乏普通的行政性文件,包括入學成績單、對口學校的文件、替代課程的相關(guān)表格、語言能力評估等等。 上周五公布的這份審計報告是近期以來美國高等教育中的第二起丑聞事件。就在兩周前,加州克萊蒙特-麥肯納學院曾曝出類似丑聞,該校為了擴大聲譽,提高了新生的標準化考試成績。 由美國北達科他州立大學系統(tǒng)和北達科他州高等教育委員會進行的審計指出,這些國際學位項目“極度缺乏控制和監(jiān)管”。 報告稱:“許多監(jiān)管程序被棄之不顧,諸多控制措施被人為拒絕或忽略,威脅到了項目的整體承諾。” 根據(jù)審計報告,學校并未核實學生完成通識教育課程,沒有完成學分的學生也被授予了學位。 據(jù)查,2003年起,共有816名學生參與了該校的國際課程,然而經(jīng)調(diào)查后發(fā)現(xiàn),其中743名學生的檔案文件存在問題。 提交給該大學的建議包括:暫停國際合作項目、修訂政策和程序、只接受官方認可的成績單、重審與留學生招生人員的協(xié)議等等。 相關(guān)閱讀 爭搶生源 poaching of talented students (中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 Julie 編輯:陳丹妮) |
Vocabulary: black mark: 污點,不良記錄 |