Design Schools and their obligations

[RanXerox]

Some of you may know that I teach design at a "private post secondary"
school here in Vancouver BC. I know that many of you sniff at the
capabilties of these schools to give their students value for their money
and while that's an unfortunate opinion, I can understand why/how they're
formed. Most of these schools are run like a business and frankly many of
them are just turnstiling people through the doors and could care less about
the quality of their education. I suppose there's lots of these kinds of
places throughout North America. I'm deeply offended at this practice of 'in
it for the money' and have left more than one because I felt the
administration did not have the students interests in mind. It's been
exceptionally difficult to find one that shared an interest in making sure
these kids got their moneys worth; but I think I've done it and Im proud of
where I work. It will remain nameless.

To the meat of the issue...
In approximately 1994, the provincial government here permitted these
"schools" to apply on behalf of their students for federal funds (ie:loans).
It caused an explosion of them and there's a local publication called the
Georgia Straight that has literally dozens of ads for these schools on
weekly basis. I'd estimate that most are about as good as the places I
left... which means quite bad. The problem is that many are looking overseas
(in particular Korea and Japan) to find new students. (Presumably the sales
pitch includes learning English... because some of my former students could
say "Hello" and thats about it. No... Im not kidding.)
Anyway, the provincial government decided it wanted a piece of the action
and started something called "PPSEC" or the Private Post Secondary Education
Commission. Its role <insert laughter> is to monitor the programs and ensure
that students are getting their moneys worth. Like most government watchdog
organizations it simply shows up now and then, grabs a couple bucks for
handing over the "PPSEC approved logo" and then is never heard from again
until its 'money time'. Now the provincial government has folded PPSEC.

I fear that now these kids are well and truly screwed. As stated, a lot of
these places are marketed overseas and some are frankly rip-offs. So...
I've decided to actually do something... I'm going to start a web site. It
will be an open forum for students to rate their schools. Having looked
around, it will be something like 3DU, but I'd like some input from you
folks as to how best create a ratings system...

Heres a brief rundown of the kind of format Im thinking of...
Students (Raters) MUST supply a valid email and the dates that they attended
the school. Until verified, the posting would not go in the db. We would
have a very solid privacy policy and NEVER reveal or sell emails.

Ratings (out of 10) based on
Curriculum: organization, structure and cohesiveness...
Resources: administrative assistance, counselling, job
search/placement/practicum
Teachers: professional, helpful, knowledgeable, resourceful
Facilities: books, computers, access, environment

I'd REALLY appreciate any feedback ADG could give me on this because well,
several minds, etc etc etc... Please, if you have any ideas on how this can
be executed in a professional and unbiased way (yes, I plan on noting up
front that the site is run by an instructor at one of the schools) I would
love to hear it.

FWIW, I figure the site would require an English, Japanese, Korean and
Spanish version too; (maybe Chinese?) and thankfully, having shared class
space with these nationalities, I think I can do that!

Thanks in advance...
and "I'll keep you posted"

[fdoyle]

I'd suggest you work some quantifiable ratings and statistics into the mix,
much like US World and other services do when ranking colleges and
universities. For example,
What percentage of incoming students complete the program?
What % drop out first year?
What level of education does an incoming student have? (i.e. XX% non-high
school degreed, XX% high school degreed, XX% some college, etc.)
What percentage of students receive financial aid?
What is the average amount and form of financial aid?
Average age of student?
Where do studnets come from? (XX% from each Canadian Prividence, XX% from
U.S., XX% foreign citizens)
Degrees and certifications of of teachers? (XX% hold Ph.D.'s, XX% hold
Masters, etc.)
Percent of students placed in jobs on graduation
Average starting salary of students on graduation

I know that these are a lot harder to obtain, and many rely on the school to
supply you with statistics. I think for many of these schools, the lack of
these statisitics will speak volumes, however, when their peers do keep, and
supply you with them.

Using stats like this helps take the rankings out of a strictly opinion
based ranking

"RanXerox" <bushorNoSpa...@telus.net> wrote in message
news:H3jg9.13174$oT6.1...@news2.telusplanet.net...

[RanXerox]

Sounds great fred and your likely quite right on many of your points. I
strongly suspect the majority of these schools would be 'reluctant' to
provide these statistics to say the least. My experience tells me that most
are frankly pretty happy about just handing over a 'diploma' to whoever has
the money, so the graduations statistics would be moot. Percentages of
foreign/domestic students? Im not sure how thats relatable to the quality of
the education.

I'd like to think that schools might offer to provide this information, the
problem is that they are privatley run schools and frankly are under no
compunction to provide these numbers to anyone. I suppose were I weasely
enough, I'd claim 'student confidentiality'. Ideally, the concept would grow
to a point where not providing the info might be viewed with suspicion (as
it should).

Granted, I can see abuse of the concept for becoming a strictly 'griper/my
opinion' site and thats something I'd really like to avoid.

As an aside, I can say we've had students of ALL ages from teenyboppers to
middle-aged 'changing career types'... Though most are in their early to mid
20's and dont want to work at McDonalds anymore ;)

Thanks for the input Fred...

"fdoyle" <fdo...@uamail.albany.edu> wrote in message
news:uo3lfap...@corp.supernews.com...

[Stan Wojda]

As a former teacher at a university I can assure you that your situation is
not unique. The sad but true fact is that when it comes to any kind of art
instruction it's let the buyer beware in spades. It is becoming more acute
of a problem because there is a myth out there that web design in particular
is the road to easy money, without a need for a good solid education. That
every computer nerd is really a web designer in disguise. Compounding the
problem is that the institutions that should be supporting the need for an
education based on solid principls of art and design are in fact promoting
design as an easy way to get a degree.

While I support your idea for a web site to act a rating device I would be
very careful about how you go about it. Get a good lawyer first and have
him/her check out every word you put in it. - Stan

fdoyle wrote