Displaced students encouraged to enroll in Sloan Semester

By Janee Mitchell - Feature Writer

Hurricane Katrina's rampage claimed many lives with the latest death toll reported at 656 by CNN. Also suffering are college students whose colleges were made uninhabitable by the disaster.

Ray Schroeder, director of the office of technology-enhanced learning, estimates that over 100,000 students from twenty colleges were “thrown out by closed schools.” Schroeder, along with Burks Oakley, director of the U of I Online, created the “Sloan Semester” that is hoped to provide 10,000 seats for displaced students.

Schroeder has taught numerous online classes and currently forms online learning policies for the U of I. He works a dual role as faculty associate to Oakley at the Champaign campus and director at the Springfield campus.

Oakley facilitates online courses, public resources and degrees for the U of I campus. He is also highly decorated in the field of technology. Schroeder said he and Oakley originally began work on the Sloan Semester as an emergency plan for the U of I campuses if and when they ran into a problem causing the campus to close for a short time.

The emergency plan was proposed a year ago. Schroeder and Oakley had urged Farokh Eslahi, director of educational technology, and Stephen Rohrer, director of campus technology services, to create the plan developing online classes for the campus if a closure should occur, but when Hurricane Katrina struck the plan was sought for as a solution to the problem of displaced students.

Schroeder said he hadn't expected the problem to be something like Hurricane Katrina. He expected something more along the lines of a chemical spill or something less devastating. Schroeder said that after hearing news of Hurricane Katrina he and Oakley began emailing The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Sloan Consortium of colleges and universities.

The Sloan Consortium was quick to fund the educational initiative. Schroeder said a grant for $1.1 million was proposed and written within a day. The proposal received final approval on Sept. 6. Schroeder said 702 students have already turned in their information and 187 courses were listed in the catalog for the Sloan Semester as of Sept. 13.

The Sloan Semester means free education for displaced students of Hurricane Katrina. The courses are offered for eight weeks online and students are able to attend part-time or full-time for a maximum of 12 hours. Schroeder said he is currently trying to identify computer donors for the students, but it is hoped that the students would have a computer or at least access to one. He also said that the Astrodome had computers provided which students may be able to use or possibly gain access to a library.

Over 200 colleges are available to displaced students via the Sloan Consortium. According to Schroeder, each campus is given $2,500 per class, placing a cap on the number of students to enroll. However, if the cap is reached the Sloan Consortium will be notified to attempt to locate another institution or solution.

Students seeking to enroll in the Sloan Semester can access the course catalogue as well as additional information online at www.sloansemester.org . The Sloan Semester will begin Oct. 10, allowing students the opportunity to prepare for class and relocate if necessary.

New Cap director furthers program's vision

By Janee Mitchell - Feature Writer

After a three-and-a-half year tenure as director of the Capital Scholars Program, Karen Moranski travels a new path as the Interim Associate Vice Chancellor.

Terry Bodenhorn was recently named the director of the Capital Scholars Program.

In her place, as the newly appointed director Terry Bodenhorn is developing fresh ideas for recruitment and academic activities. The change was executed as part of a “lower division expansion,” said Moranski, which led her to chair the general education working group.

Both Moranski and Bodenhorn were pleased with their previous positions. Bodenhorn said he enjoyed the position and said that “it's always a challenge to see what you can accomplish” in the program and Moranski also said she enjoyed her previous job. However, Bodenhorn and Moranski see this transition as a necessary path to fulfilling their vision.

Moranski said the general education working group was involved in the preparation of curriculum over the last two years for the program. Moranski further stated, “ The Cap Scholar honors had to be separate from the regular general education.” The current position, interim associate vice chancellor, opened for Moranski as a “natural progression from chair of the general education working group,” she said.

Moranski sees the transition as a promotion from her previous position while Bodenhorn sees the transition as “both a promotion and a new step.” Bodenhorn said he and Moranski have similar visions and they are just “carrying out or implementing the vision (they) already developed.”

The program is developed to allow for the proper separation from honors and general education students. Moranski said all of the entering students will be Capital Scholars, but there will be a division between regular students and honor students.

Moranski said, “I will miss being around the students as much as I have been for the last four or five years. The position I'm in is necessary and critical to the development of the campus, so it is important that I'm here.” From her new position Moranski said she is able to “highlight the importance of general education on campus and advocate for the students,” having “more of a direct impact on the big picture.”

Bodenhorn was the interim director for the CAP program during the summer and he said it prepared him for today. Although he said the change was overwhelming at first, Bodenhorn said he is in a “capacity to set priority lists for the program in discussion with the students and other faculty.

Bodenhorn said the chancellor appointed him because of his interest in the position and familiarity with the program. The final approval will be given by the department and according to Bodenhorn, has not yet taken place.

As a result of the position change, Bodenhorn will be doing less teaching and it is that aspect of his previous job he said he would miss most. In his new position as program director, Bodenhorn plans to do more developing in the program, emphasizing a focus on study abroad, greater student choices in courses, academic and intellectual activities and learning experience enhancement.

“The number one concern is to enhance recruitment of minorities and ensure their success,” said Bodenhorn. He also said that the program has a new full-time recruiter and a student advisory board to make the program more well known in an effort to increase recruitment.

Displaced students encouraged to enroll in Sloan Semester.

New Cap director furthers program's plans