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Volume CXXXIII, Number 16 |
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CBB will shut down after 2004-2005
PRIYA SRIDHAR
STAFF WRITER
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| Students who participate in the CBB program in South Africa take two courses taught at the University of Cape Town. After the 2004-2005 academic year, CBB will cease operations in its three international locations. (Courtesy of CBB) |
First year students should rethink their plans about studying abroad through the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Off-Campus Study Program. After the 2004-2005 academic year, CBB will cease operations in South Africa, Ecuador and England.
The CBB program will accept applications for its centers in Cape Town, Quito, and London for the last time this year. At the end of next spring, the centers will close.
In a letter to colleagues of the three colleges, William Adams, president of Colby College, Elaine Hansen, president of Bates College, and Barry Mills, president of Bowdoin College, said, "The centers have encountered important and unanticipated
challenges and difficulties, particularly in terms of achieving predictable student enrollments and financial stability. After careful discussion and review, we have concluded that we cannot continue to operate the centers without incurring further operating losses and very substantial administrative burdens."
While enrollment at CBB's London site was 56 in 2000, only 22 students studied in England through CBB in 2002. Because the numbers fluctuated so much, it was difficult for the administrators to predict a steady future for the program.
CBB tuition covered the cost of the plane tickets to the center, living accommodations, food, and transportation between host family and the universities, where classes take place. The cost of studying abroad was approximately equivalent to the cost of studying at Bowdoin. Accordingly, financial aid grants remained the same for students studying abroad at any CBB location. The only additional expenses that a student incurred were textbooks and spending money.
While most study abroad programs rely on local faculty, the CBB programs combined local faculty and professors from the three U.S. colleges.
Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin also pay full-time staff members in each of the centers. According to representatives from the three schools, these expenses became too costly.
Director of Off-Campus Study Stephen Hall indicated that he did not think that the end of CBB would affect the numbers of students going abroad. "The overall number of students going abroad at Bowdoin didn't change that much with the institution of the CBB," he said.
The United Kingdom has always been the most popular spot for studying abroad, attracting twice the number of students as Spain, the second most attractive spot. It was chosen as a site for a CBB center because of an already-existing program run by Colby that had proven successful. Even with the institution of the CBB program, Bowdoin has been sending a number of students to the London School of Economics every year and many Visual Arts and Asian Studies students.
"Ecuador was chosen [by the Colby, Bates and Bowdoin Presidents] because it is a relatively stable country, fascinating in biological and ecological terms, and has a large population of indigenous people," said Claire Allum, administrator of the CBB Off-Campus Study Program. Its popularity with other colleges is notable as well. It is the third most-visited country for foreign study in South America, and based on the numbers, Allum and Hall predict many more Bowdoin students will study there in the future.
"The CBB just gave less adventurous students an opportunity to study abroad in a more organized way," Allum said. "They didn't have to find their own accommodation. Many students find the CBB study abroad program attractive because it is comforting for them to be surrounded by students and be taught by professors from the three schools."
Another unique characteristic of the CBB program was its grading system. Grades received while abroad appear on the students' academic transcripts and are factored into their cumulative GPAs. The programs in Quito and Cape Town also provided students with intense community service experiences, while the London program offered its participants access to internships with some of London's premiere institutions.
The London site provided stability for its applicants, always offering core courses in government, English, performing arts, and biomedical studies. It made studying abroad for science students easy because they were given full academic credit for their coursework so their requirements for their major were not hindered. For the most part, participants in the CBB program would choose one core field of study with a Colby, Bates, or Bowdoin professor and then two electives with local professors.
Betsy Gott '04 studied in Cape Town and worked in the township of Lavender Hill with girls between the ages of seven and 13. Although she was supposed to be a role model and positive female influence in their lives, she found that she learned a lot about race and poverty from them. "I thought the program was amazing; it allowed me the comfort of socializing with Americans when I needed it, but forced me to live and interact with South Africans in the most challenging situations," she said.
Karen Jacobson '04 traveled to Quito last fall and had a different experience. Although she noted the advantages of having the biology credits she earned while in Quito transfer so easily toward her biology major, she found it frustrating that grades were visible on the transcript. "I learned a lot, but I feel like I missed out on some things in Ecuador because I spent so much time with schoolwork," she said.
Some students indicated frustration at the end of the CBB programs. are frustrated at the end of the CBB Programs. "As a Spanish major, I prioritized study away programs as one of my main considerations for colleges," Katie Grimm '07 said. "I understand that there are other programs out there, but I was particularly frustrated with the lack of official notification."
Grimm added, "The deadline for next year's program is March 1, which leaves first years who were not planning to apply until junior year with little or no time to fill out the application. The first-year class will therefore bear the brunt of the Administration's lack of communication."
To students who are worried about their own plans for studying abroad, Hall said, "There are other study abroad programs that exist. We can look to other institutions in London and look for others ways for students to take classes at the University of Cape Town. The IES (Institute for the International Education of Students) has programs offered in Quito."
Faculty members will also be affected by the end of the CBB. Last fall, David Collings, an English professor, traveled to London and taught two courses on London amusements and rural England. He found the opportunity to show his students the settings of the books they were reading particularly exciting.
"One of the primary virtues of that program was allowing faculty to have the opportunity to teach abroad," Collings said. "Students will have other options, faculty will not have that opportunity, at least not so readily."
Although CBB is ending, administrators are looking into a new cooperative program with Colby and Bates.
"We would like to continue our collaboration and hopefully develop a program that won't be based in centers anymore," Allum said.
The presidents reflected this sentiment in their letter: "The colleges intend to continue our collaboration in study abroad. Our experiences with the centers, while challenging, have taught us a great deal, and we will use this knowledge to reshape and extend our CBB collaboration."
For information on sending a letter to the editor, please click here.
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