COMMITTEE:	Admissions and Recruitment

MEETING DATE:	March 2, 1998

PERSON PRESIDING:	John Cope

ACTIONS OF MEETING

Description of action:
Approval of minutes of 2/2/98

Description of action:
John Cope introduced Marolyn McDiarmid, of the International 
Affairs office, to describe the recruitment and admissions 
activities of international students at ECU.

McDiarmid said that she has been responsible for admissions, 
credentialing, and recruitment in the International Affairs office 
since November.  She receives tremendous support from 
Admissions and the Registrar's office.  Much of her work 
consists of learning how to look at foreign credentials.  She has 
to know how to evaluate credentials of foreign education 
systems and how they fit with ECU's programs and 
requirements.  She aims to set high standards for the program. 
 Every student presents a "new jigsaw puzzle, " she said.

As for recruitment activities, she is waiting until she has a firmer 
idea of what ECU wants in the way of international students.  A 
recruiter is going to Italy in mid-April. Economic problems in the 
Asian countries is causing Asian students in the U.S. to drop 
out of school and return home.  Many universities are finding 
creative ways to help them remain in school, such as financial 
support or waiving some fees.

The international enrollment at ECU is heavily Northern 
European, although some departments, such as Physics with 
its Chinese students, have a large number of students from 
other countries.  We will continue to look at those countries 
with which we have ties and look to strengthen them.  Word of 
mouth is one of the strongest recruitment tools, she said.

John Cope asked how do we deal with countries that don't use 
the SAT or other standardized test.  McDiarmid replied that we 
look at the finishing certificate, the curriculum, and what the 
students are studying.  We also look at our own educational 
system in the U.S.  and then in the student's country.  We 
support good language proficiency--a TOEFL score of 550, 
although students with lower scores are admitted if they have 
other strong qualities.  She said that ECU needs to restructure 
its language support, since the English Language Academy 
has closed.

Dorothy Muller asked if we used a credentialing service.  
McDiarmid replied that she does the credentialing for 
undergraduates and sends applications for graduate students 
to the Graduate Office.  She said that the student must come 
from a university or school recognized by the Ministry of 
Education or other official body.

Kathy Misulis asked where we could anticipate future 
recruitment opportunities.  McDiarmid replied that we would 
continue with our present efforts:  Northern Europe and 
Germany (Business School); China (Physics); Canada and 
Japan; and Norway, Sweden, and Finland.  Gulati said that 
word of mouth is good, but imagine how many more we will get 
when we consciously recruit.  Despite the Asian economic 
situation, he said that money is still there and that the 
economic problem is with the governments.  Parents will still 
want their children to get an education.  We can get those 
students, provided we go and recruit there.  McDiarmid agreed 
and said that there is an ethical issue here:  we should 
continue to recruit in these difficult times to show them that we 
are with them, even if there is no money there.  But our 
recruitment budget is small.

Muller asked how active are we as an institution in working with 
consulates and other offices in Washington.  McDiarmid said 
that we have gone to Washington in the past and hope to 
continue to do so.  

McDiarmid said that International Affairs has a Web page for 
the Study Abroad and Student Exchange programs and hopes 
to put applications on-line, create links to and from the ECU 
admissions office, and perhaps include links to international 
education.

McDiarmid closed by saying that the international enrollment at 
ECU was only about 130 students among the total student 
body of 18,000.  

John Cope thanked McDiarmid for sharing this information with 
the committee and offered a standing invitation to come to the 
committee with any concerns.


NEXT MEETING:	April 3, 1998

ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED:	TBA

Michael Cotter, Secretary