As a result of the systemwide budget cuts and in anticipation of further cuts, the Education Abroad Program will face cutbacks in new program development and expansion, possibly affecting admissions and costs of program participation.
Guardian
“”There is a ‘hold’ on new Education Abroad Program development and growth system-wide,”” said Mary Dhooge, director of the International Center. “”But it will not be terribly dire for us, because we have quite a bit of flexibility as a campus on how we handle individual programs and application numbers.””
The EAP offers UC students the opportunity to study overseas at host institutions in 35 countries in academic programs that complement UC criteria. The program provides sophomore through graduate students access to full-year and short-term academic programs abroad that coincide with the students’ disciplines, EAP Director Molly Ann McCarren said.
Because the EAP is considered a tenth campus, it, like the other campuses in UCSD, must cease expansion, according to A.S. Commissioner of Academic Affairs Todd Tolin. However, the amount of people expected to apply to the program is expected to increase, which means possible caps on EAP enrollment, Tolin said.
McCarren refuted this statement, saying EAP has always had a few programs with limited capacity, and if there were more applicants than allotted space, EAP would designate alternates. For other programs, the university would request more spaces for the following school year than the number of spaces filled up the previous school year, McCarren said.
“”UCSD requested more spaces for the 2004-05 school year than we filled for the 2003-04 school year,”” McCarren said. “”And EAP has granted many of those extra spaces, so we do not anticipate having to turn students away from those programs. There will be no growth above the 2004-05 numbers for 2005-06.””
Due to the extensive budget cuts, EAP will not be able to expand in administrative help for an already understaffed office.
“”These budget cuts also put further strain on an already overworked office,”” Tolin said. “”The EAP offices currently have the highest ratio of students to advisors of any other system wide office and will need to seek assistance from Academic and Student Affairs to keep up with demand.””
Eleanor Roosevelt College freshman Hannah Tchon described the staff in the EAP office.
“”I went into the EAP office and everyone was so busy,”” Tchon said. “”There were about ten people waiting in line, and some people had to reschedule their appointments because it was so busy.””
In addition to these holds, a requisite database costing $800,000 will have to be added to the EAP because of new Homeland Security regulations, according to Tolin.
“”This translates to a $100 fee increase to students entering the program,”” Tolin said.
Tolin is concerned that this fee increase may cause some students to reconsider enrolling in the program.
“”I feel that these programs allow for a true university experience of learning ‘beyond the books,'”” Tolin said.
For some students, the EAP cutbacks are just a minor setback.
“”The possible limitation within the programs, in addition to the $100 fee increase is discouraging,”” Tchon said. “”However, if in two years I still want to go, the fee increase won’t stop me. It’s just that all the complications cause me to be hesitant about it.””
