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I. Financial Aid

MONMOUTH COLLEGE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS
Monmouth College has a longstanding tradition of welcoming students from every part of the world. We know that international diversity within our student body benefits all students, inside the classroom and beyond. When engaged and enthusiastic young people from many countries and many cultures study, reflect, and socialize together, good things happen – friendships are established, understanding is increased, communicative skills are enhanced, patience is deepened, and an endlessly rewarding curiosity about the world bursts into life.

Merit Scholarships for International Baccalaureate Students will be awarded to admitted international applicants who have completed the IB Diploma program at an IB World School. Award amounts will vary, with a minimum of $15,000, and may be renewed for up to three additional years of study. The applicant should provide proof of graduation from the IB World School in the form of the high school transcript (course marks), sent directly from the high school itself. The student applicant does not need to demonstrate financial need to be eligible for this scholarship. Monmouth College welcomes IB students!
For more information, please visit: http://bit.ly/IF1RSp

HIRAM COLLEGE MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS
Hiram is a coeducational liberal arts college of about 1,300 men and women located in the historic Western Reserve region of Ohio. Hiram is a nationally respected institution that offers students a distinct learning environment with an emphasis on close student-faculty interactions, international study experiences, and experiential learning environments.

International applicants are eligible to compete for merit-based Global Scholarships. For on-campus residents, they range up to a maximum of $19,500 per year. For commuter students, they range up to a maximum of $15,000 per year. Scholarships are renewable annually for up to four years of study. To receive full consideration, a completed application for admission must be received no later than February 15 for the fall intake and no later than October 1 for the spring intake.

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND LAW SCHOLARSHIPS
The University of Richmond provides a collaborative learning and research environment unlike any other in higher education, offering students an extraordinary combination of the liberal arts with law, business, leadership studies, and continuing education. Students are guaranteed an integrated, interdisciplinary academic experience across any of the five schools.

All applicants to the law school are considered for the John Marshall Scholars Program, which awards scholarships of $10,000 each to a number of incoming students each year. The scholarship is renewed automatically each year, provided the recipient ranks in the top third of his or her class. John Marshall Scholars are chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of Virginia Supreme Court justices and prominent alumni. Beginning in their second year, John Marshall Scholars are invited to participate in a specially designed seminar during the course of the academic year.

WANGARI MAATHAI SCHOLARSHIP FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
At the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, we believe that solutions to environmental challenges such as climate change must be tackled from an integrated perspective. Whether enrolled the existing environmental policy track or the new climate science and policy degree, students are given rigorous scientific, economic, legal, and political training, and graduates enter their careers equipped with the knowledge and practical experience to create thoughtful and competent policy.

The new Wangari Maathai Scholarship is available for one outstanding international student as part of the Wangari Maathai Scholars program. This new program will grant one $20,000 scholarship per year to a student who shows promise of a leadership career in environmental policy. Interested students should email a statement of no more than 500 words to cep@bard.edu on the following: Please define and explain leadership in the context of the sustainability challenges we face in the coming decades. Finalists will be reviewed based on this statement and their application materials, and will be interviewed by the selection committee. Applicants must be accepted to the Bard CEP masters program and have completed a international financial aid application, including a certificate of finances, in order to qualify. Applications are due by May 15. The scholarship recipient will be notified on June 1st.

II. Campus News

HOW TO APPLY FOR YOUR STUDENT VISA
EducationUSA’s Marty Bennett goes through the steps of how to apply for your student visa. While the process may be intimidating and nerve racking, the article reassures that any fears are unnecessary; especially when compared with the excitement that comes with visa approval.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS ANNOUNCES CONDITIONAL ADMISSION PROGRAM
The Global Achievement Program at University of California, Davis is a new opportunity uniquely designed for foreign high school students who satisfy all the academic requirements for admission to UC Davis except for the English language requirements.

The program offers a rigorous foundation year of language and academic preparation coursework to help students succeed academically at the University of California. As a reminder for those who wish to apply for the 2012 -2013 academic year, all application and supplement materials must be received by Friday, August 10, 2012.

IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP YOUR MIND OPEN WHEN APPLYING
Roz, as he has come to be called by his American friends, is an Uzbekistan student who participated in the Undergraduate Intensive English Language Study Program (UIELSP) at Utah State University.

Before starting this program, Roz had never even heard of the UIELSP. But thanks to the EducationUSA adviser in Roz’s country, he was encouraged to apply. Roz speaks about the amazing experience he had in the U.S., and how it both improved his language skills and continued to guide him upon returning home.

Photo credit: jampact.org

In its efforts to raise $100,000 to rebuild Maxfield Park Children’s Home Basic School in Jamaica, JAMPACT will host the 2012 C.H.I.C. Benefit Gala on Saturday, June 16, at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York. The event’s goal is to entertain and drive home the importance of the organization’s cause of early childhood education and raise the monetary funds needed for construction of the new Maxfield Park Basic School.

The C.H.I.C. Benefit Gala will feature fabulous fashions from designer, Teresa Sydonna, the presentation of the prestigious JAMPACT Founders Award to Jamaican author, journalist and former member of JAMPACT, Kellie Magnus, great food, fine wines and much more. The C.H.I.C. event also acknowledges Jamaica’s 50th Independence Anniversary Celebration and Jamaica Diaspora Day.

Kellie Magnus is the founder of Jackmandora, a Caribbean children’s media company. She is the author of the popular Little Lion series as well as books in the Ministry of Education’s Literacy 123 and BookStart Jamaica programs. She serves on the boards of the Early Childhood Commission, the Book Industry Association of Jamaica, the Caribbean Publishers’ Network and the National Library of Jamaica

To date, JAMPACT has raised 20% of the needed funds for the rebuilding project. Maxfield Park Basic School (like most) in its impoverished area, receives little or no funding from the government but even more significantly, is a school whose entire student population is either orphaned or abandoned. JAMPACT’s efforts are not just to erect a building, but provide a solid foundation and invest in the lives of children for an impactful future. All proceeds raised will go towards Maxfield Park.

Caribbean News Now

Photo credit: wwmt.com

NEGSA is a member community within the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

The fair is designed to educate students in Puerto Rico about the qualities medical schools are looking for in their applicants and provide important information that will help students become competitive medical school applicants. Representatives from more than 30 US-based medical schools as well as representatives from the AAMC will take part in this event.

The fair will include a number of workshops on topics including:

• Admissions requirements;
• Interview skills and personal statement development;
• Research, community service and leadership opportunities;
• MCAT preparation;
• Holistic review;
• Financial aid; and more.

“As the diversity of the US population increases, there is a growing need to insure that the healthcare providers serving patients reflect this diversity,” said Adam Aponte, MD, MSc, FAAP, assistant dean for diversity and inclusion at Hostra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine and the chair of NEGSA. “This is the first event of its kind and we are pleased to have so many medical school representatives on the island of Puerto Rico not only marketing their schools but providing advice and guidance to students interested in pursuing a medical career. This will be a unique opportunity for students, parents and pre-health advisors to interact with medical school representatives.”

Caribbean News Now

STUDENTS at the University of the West Indies (UWI) who were barred from taking exams because they hadn’t paid tuition fees, this morning turned their protests up another notch, when they turned over desks and chairs and ordered legitimate students sitting exams out of exam rooms.

The protesters, who were peacefully protesting outside the administration building earlier this morning, soon got aggressive, and insisted that if they couldn’t sit exams, no one else could.

Some were sprawled out on desks, others raised such a ruckus that the police had to be called in.

UWI officials insist that they have for months given the students room for dialogue, and those who owe upwards of $30,000 would not be allowed to sit the exams.

By COREY ROBINSON
Jamaica Observer

The seminars were said to contain unfair information on future exams

Exams regulator Ofqual investigated the issue after the Daily Telegraph printed extracts from seminars held by four boards.

They appeared to show teachers being given information – including questions – about future exams.

Ofqual head Glenys Stacey said teachers should not gain unfairly from seminars.

The inquiry looking into the claims made by the newspaper found there were problems with some seminars, but these were not systemic and related to limited specific incidents.

‘Privileged information’

An examiner from Edexcel was suspended as a result of the allegations and two from Welsh board WJEC, which also had to rewrite and delay one of its exams.

Ms Stacey said: “The new rules will make sure that schools and teachers have access to the information they need to understand the exams their pupils are taking. However, they should not get privileged information by attending face-to-face events with those who set the questions.

“We know the value of teachers interacting with experts from exam boards, but we have concluded that there are better ways for information to be shared, such as live online events or ‘webinars’.

“These methods can easily be made available to all teachers, not just those who can attend meetings.”

She also announced a review of the way controlled assessments were used. This is where pupils are set work to do either in or outside of class, which contributes towards the final grade.

Edexcel, which suspended an examiner contracted to work for the board part-time for making unprofessional comments, said it was essential that teachers were given support with exams

Rod Bristow, president of Edexcel’s parent company, Pearson UK, said: “Events of the past six months have, however, demonstrated the risks associated with this.

“We have already taken strong action to ensure that the information shared through events and other channels is always appropriate. Many of our events will be online, and all will be recorded, to enable a high degree of transparency.

“These new measures are also reflected in the guidance issued by Ofqual today.”

‘Outrageous’

WJEC head Gareth Pierce said: “We are pleased that we will still be able to offer face-to-face events to introduce new specifications, for training relating specifically to controlled assessment, and also for general training to enrich teachers’ work in the classroom.

“For training sessions in the current academic year and in 2012-13 we have already implemented a range of measures to ensure consistency of the information provided, including clearer guidelines to contributors at face-to-face events.”

A Department for Education spokesman said it was vital that confidence in the exam system was restored.

“It is outrageous that privileged information was shared at some exam seminars and we welcome the action Ofqual is taking on this.

“We also share Ofqual’s concerns about controlled assessment, as do many schools, so their review of this will be very welcome.

“We want all exams in England to stand comparison with, and be as rigorous as, those in the best-performing education jurisdictions.”

‘Damage’

Responding to the changes, Mark Dawe, chief executive of exam board OCR, said his board’s seminars for teachers were not found to be of concern to the regulator during its investigation.

“However, we understand the need to take action against the risk of inappropriate behaviour by a handful of rogue examiners as uncovered by the Daily Telegraph.

“We are disappointed that Ofqual has not consulted widely, especially with the teaching profession, in its rushed decision to end face-to-face teacher seminars.”

Ofqual also found no cause for concern in AQA board seminars, but its chief executive Andrew Hall said he was not complacent.

“We recognise the damage that has been caused to public confidence as a result of evidence showing that information was inappropriately shared at some other organisations’ seminars.

“AQA is the largest provider of teacher support events and already offers a lot of web-based support.”

By Hannah Richardson
BBC News education reporter

A framework to boost maths in A-level sciences is needed, say the report authors

The authors claim that even those that are asked are often too easy.

The report by a group of leading science organisations calls for a new framework to regulate the way maths is assessed within science A-levels.

The government says it wants universities to be more involved in the design and development of A-levels.

The report by Score (Science community representing education) analysed the type, extent and difficulty of the mathematics in the 2010 A-level papers for biology, chemistry and physics.

‘Worrying’

The authors said the exams failed to assess the full range of maths skills needed for the subjects.

They added that the exams often also failed to meet the requirements for A-level science qualifications set out by the exams regulator Ofqual.

Professor Graham Hutchings, chairman of Score, said: “Our findings are worrying. A significant proportion of the mathematical requirements put in place by the examinations regulator, Ofqual, for each of the sciences were simply not assessed and, if they were, it was often in a very limited way.”

The report also claimed that the Ofqual requirements were themselves inadequate in that they left out areas of mathematics which underpinned the sciences.

For example the requirements for physics and chemistry A-level left out calculus and the requirements for biology A-level ignored the maths needed to convert between different units.

The authors also found a disparity between the different exam boards, with some requiring a greater proportion of maths and more complex calculations than others.

They called for a framework to ensure parity between boards, and a review of the mathematical requirements for each of the sciences at A-level.

Prof Hutchings said professional scientific bodies should play a role in the design of A-levels to ensure they were fit for purpose.

A-level change

A second report into the maths content of six other A-level subjects which depended on maths found even greater variation in mathematical content between boards.

The Nuffield Foundation examined the 2010 A-level papers for business studies, computing, economics, geography, psychology and sociology.

The report concluded that with the exception of computing, the variation in mathematical content was so great that the qualifications did not give universities or employers a meaningful indication of students’ level of mathematical skill or understanding.

The two reports were carried out in response to research last year that suggested two-thirds of science undergraduates did not have the necessary mathematical skills for their course.

A spokesman for Ofqual responded: “We intend to consult in the summer on proposals to change the A-level system. When A-levels are redesigned, universities and other learned bodies will be more involved in deciding the content to make sure they meet their needs.

“Our own research into universities’, employers’ and teachers’ views of A-levels also highlighted some concerns about the mathematical content of A-levels, particularly physics.”

Cambridge Assessment, which owns the exam board OCR, said the research confirmed its own work on higher education, and added that it was already working on new qualifications to boost the mathematics skills of A-level science students.

A spokeswoman for the Edexcel exam board said: “We should take on board the expertise of employers whose views are important for building high-quality examinations that meet the demands of the global economy.”

By Judith Burns
Education reporter, BBC News