Hyderabad: In the aftermath of the fiasco involving Indian students, the US based-Western Kentucky University has effected major changes in international recruitment. For one, it would stop spot admission procedure for recruitment.
Varsity officials will be participating in future recruitments abroad to filter applicants. WKU officials will review and approve all advertising done on behalf of the university well in advance of these recruitment campaigns.
A few days ago, 25 Indian students were asked to leave the varsity or find admission elsewhere after it was found they fell short of standards.
However, these students put up individual requests before WKU to give them another opportunity. WKU enrolls more than 2,800 students in its graduate programmes. All students, domestic and international, are held accountable to rigorous academic standards.
In an e-mail communication to this newspaper, the varsity stated that it made these changes based on its present experience with Indian students. “We would like to see all of our students, regardless of nationality, be successful. For a variety of reasons, that is always not possible,” said Dr David Lee, WKU’s chief academic officer.
Western Kentucky University’s plan gone wrong
WKU, which had launched the India Pilot programme last year to provide more opportunities for Indian students, app-ears to have learnt a lesson in the implementation of the programme in the first year itself.
Generally, proficiency in English (IELTS (6.5 score)/TOEFL (79)), academic percentage of 60 per cent or above and GRE (300 score) are loo-ked at before giving adm-issions in Masters study for engineering.
The varsity relaxed norms slightly to allow nearly 100 students from all over India to take admission. Of them, 25 who opted for Masters in computers science failed to deliver, stated Mr Subhakar Alapati, director Global Tree Overseas Education Consultants.
In an e-mail communication to DC, WKU noted that conditional admission may be granted when a student falls short in some standards. Some of these students achieve the standards quickly with support, while some didn’t. WKU’s chief academic officer Dr David Lee said “We believe changes will result in an improved admission process.”
