Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 18, 1995 TAG: 9510180080
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Hollins College President Maggie O'Brien and nearly 200 alumnae are gathered in Paris this week to celebrate the 40th year of a study-abroad program in the French capital.
But some Hollins students fear the program is in jeopardy.
More than 80 students assembled at a Student Senate meeting Tuesday night to discuss the surprise cancellation last week of the spring 1995 Hollins Abroad-Paris offering.
Tom Edwards, dean of international programs, said that, since 1992, the program had not drawn the 20 students per term needed to meet expenses.
``We've known for several terms that the program is floundering - it basically needs more students,'' he told the students.
The dwindling numbers led O'Brien to convert the spring, fall or two-semester program into a fall-only offering, he said.
The college operates a similar program in London that attracts the required number of students.
Linda Steele, director of college relations, said O'Brien is aware of and sensitive to the students' feelings. She said O'Brien was disappointed to find that three days before the deadline, only six Hollins students and three students from other schools had applied. Three others signed up later.
Edwards said the 1,100-student private college operated the program with a deficit of $50,000 to $80,000 a year with the hope there would be a turnaround.
Students who spoke at the meeting said they weren't aware of the program's difficulties.
They also said the college hasn't done enough to promote the program outside of the French department. But Steele said officials distributed an extensive program brochure and marketed it to other schools.
Steele said that if the consolidation renews student interest, the program could be re-examined.
Meanwhile, college officials are searching for alternative programs offered by other schools, Edwards said. Or students can switch to the London program.
Those options don't appeal to Kathleen McDonald, a junior, who said she has spent six years studying French and planned her course load at Hollins to include a semester in Paris.
McDonald said she chose Hollins specifically because of its abroad programs, billed in brochures as unique. She and other affected students aren't optimistic about finding another program that can compare with the college's.
The professors in the program are employed by Hollins, said Meg Fitzpatrick, a senior who spent a year in Paris. All classes are taught in French; some professors speak only broken English.
Students become members of their host French families, Fitzpatrick said, and three-day weekends give students a chance to explore Europe on their own.
Fitzpatrick, McDonald and junior Carol Branigan, another Paris hopeful, presented a resolution to the Student Senate expressing ``deep concern and displeasure'' with the president's decision, which they said was made without input from students, faculty or the board of trustees.
The resolution didn't pass because the Senate lost a quorum, but no one present voted against it. The women said they will submit the resolution again at the next meeting.
by CNB