By: Vanessa Smith
The National Student Exchangeprogram’s motto is “Widen Your Educational Horizons,” which is exactly what program Vice President Wendel B. Wickland wants students to do.
“Too many students treat college like high school,” he said. “They come to class and then leave and don’t really get the college experience,” This is why the NSE is appealing to students-- to get a new cultural perspective while remaining on North American soil.
The program is designed to allow a study-abroad atmosphere within the confines of the United States and Canada, including campuses in:
Puerto Rico
Quebec
Guam
Virgin Islands
According to professor Deborah Hovland, knowing a foreign language is essential for most study-abroad programs, but the NSE only requires students going to Puerto Rico or Quebec take lessons in the country’s native language. Hovland is a French professor at BSC.
Wickland said the most popular destination for students is Hawaii, with approximately 300 students per year studying there. Out of the 4,000 students who participated in the NSE program in 2004, 60 were from BSC.
The NSE process begins on campus; students must talk to their adviser first and fill out an application. In order to qualify, a minimum 2.5 GPA is required, but Wickland estimates the average GPA of NSE students is 3.2.
Once accepted, students are placed at the campus of their choice for up to one academic year. However, students do not have to go for a consecutive year; it can be broken up in two-semester intervals, said Wickland.
Wickland, who is also the director of special programs on campus, says the NSE is an easy way to see the country while checking out prospective job markets and lifestyles of different locations in the United States.
Surveys conducted by the NSE, 89 percent of students list “personal growth” as a reason for the exchange, while 86 percent say it’s to live in a different area.
Whatever the reason, the program is gaining popularity and enrollment. To date, over 75,000 students participated in the NSE.
Wickland remembers the program from its 1969 beginning of three campuses nationwide to the more than 175 locations now.
“This really fills in a gap in U.S. studies,” he says of the program.
Information on the NSE is available in South Wing, Room 420. There is an information table with brochures and application located in the lobby of Butler Library.
Contact info: smitvl09@mail.buffalostate.edu
|
