DOCUMENT RESUME ED 086 111 HE 005 019 AUTHOR Fish, Cynthia, Ed. TITLE The Admission and Academic Placement of Students from the Caribbean. A Workshop Report: British Patterned Education, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Dutch Patterned Education, the French West Indies, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. INSTITUTION American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, Athens, Ohio.; National Association for Foreign Student Affairs, Washington, D.C. PUB DATE [73] NOTE 206p. AVAILABLE FROM National Association for Foreign Student Affairs, 1860 19th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009 ($2.50) EDRS PRICE EF-$0.65 HC-$9.87 DESCRIPTORS *Admissios" (School) ;*College Students; *Foreign Students; *Higher Education; *Student Placement; Workshops IDENTIFIERS *Caribbean; Cuba; Dominican Republic; French West Indies; Haiti; Puerto Rico; Virgin Islands ABSTRACT This workshop report examines the admission and academic placement of students from the Caribbean. Workshop materials concerning the educational systems of the British patterned Caribbean, Cuba, Dominican Republic; Dutch patterned Caribbean, French West Indies, Haiti, Puerto Rico; and the U.S. Virgin Islands are presented. Workshop recommendations suggest: a preliminary application form can be helpful in providing initial screening before a complete application is made; the development of files for each country or area; and performance studies of a given group' of students at institutions provide helpful sources of information.(MJM) c, THE ADMISSION AND ACADEMICPLACEMENT OF STUDENTS FROM THE CARIBBEAN A Workshop Report SPiTISH PATTERNED EDUCATION CUBA THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC DUTCH PATTERNED EDUCATION THE FRENCH WEST INDIES HAITI PUERTO RICO U S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE THE U. S. VIRGIN ISLANDS NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN ATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR FOREIGN STUDENTAFFAIRS AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGIATE REGISTRARSAND ADMISSIONS OFFICERS PUBLISHED BY THE .NORTH-SOUTH CENTER, SANJUAN, PUERTO RICO FILMED FROM BEST AVAILABLE COPY 11 THE ADMISSION AND ACADEMIC PLACEMENT OF STUDENTS FROM THE CARIBBEAN A WORKSHOP REPORT British Patterned Education Cuba The Dominican Republic Dutch Patterned Education The French West Indies Haiti Pucrts Rico The U.S. Virgin Islands Editor - Cynthia Fish National Association for Foreign Student Affairs American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers Published by The North-South Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico ii PREFACf, The workshop on the admission and academic placement of students from the Caribbean area was held in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, from December 4 - 16, 1972. The workshop was sponsored by the American Association of Colle- giate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) and the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs (NAFSA). Two previous workshops have been held on Latin American countries, three workshops on Asian and Pacific countries and one workshop on Germany. There were eighteen participants selected for the Caribbean meeting, repre- senting both AACRAO and I.AFSA constituencies. All of them have a major concern for the admission of foreign students at their institutions and all the institu- tions represented have a significant number of Caribbean students. As each country was studied, the resource person or persons presented the historical and educational background as well as a description of the educational system today. This was followed by an analysis of actual admissions applications and credentials from that area. Each participant was assigned to a study group for a given area. This group was responsible for presenting recommendatiOns regarding the admission and academic placement of students from that area to U.S. colleges and universities. Finally, these recommendations were discussed and approved by the entire group of participants. The placement recommendations in the report are based upon an analysis of the materials presented by the resource persons combined with the participants' experience related to the performance of students from each of these areas. This combination resulted in this final report, which is presented to the admissions community as a guide. It should be interpreted in that l.ght. Pe is understood that any additional experience a given institution has with students from this area of the world should also be brought to bear on any admissions decision. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A large number of organizations was responsible for the financial support of the. workshop. The initial invitation for a workshop to be held in the Caribbean area came from Alfonso Lockward, Executive`Secretary of the Fundaciffn de Ckidito Educativo in the Dominican Republic. The FundaciOn contributed financial support as well as providing logistical support and gracious hospitality for the partici- pants and staff in Santo Domingo. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State, the Ford Foundation, the Starr Foundation and the Graduate Business Admissions Council also contributed financially to the workshop. These organizations have supported previous workshops, and their continued support is most gratifying. The newly formed International Education Research Foundation contributed financially to the workshop and provided for a member of their Board to attend as an observer. Within the Caribbean area there were two organizations, the Association of Caribbean Universities and Research Institutes and the North- South Center, which contributed support. The facilities for our meetingd in Santo Domingo were provided by APEC (ACCkon Pko-Education y Catuu, Inc.). iii To all of these organizations NAFSA and AACRAO are deeply grateful. As Director of the workshop wish to express special thanks to Gustavo Rodriguez of the Fundacion de Ckedtto Educativo, as well as other members of his staff, who were extremely helpful in making the many local arra-gements for us; to Adolfo Fortier, Executive Director for Latin American Activities of the College Entrance Examination Board's Puerto Rican office, who was invaluable to me in the pl:anning stages of the project and for his continued assistance in the final executiion of this report; to Martin Kushinsky, Cultural Affairs Officer in the Dominican Republic, who made a number of arrangements for the group which enhanced the value of having the workshop in a foreign country; to James Bowmar of the Educational Testing Service and Sanford Jameson of the College Entrance Examination Board, who generously gave of their time to attend the workshop and discuss financial aid need analysis and testing programs for admissions, respec- tively. Cynthia Fish deserves special mention for her excellent work as editor of this report. I would also like to thank Stephen Fisher, one of the partici- pants, for his assistance in the preparation of the manuscript for the section on British patterned education. At times the search for funds and for some of the program resources seemed interminable. During that time I was grateful for the interest and suggestions of P. K. Rao of the Ford Foundation; Estelitta Hart and DaVid Heft of the Organ- ization of American States; Narita Houlihan and Mary Ann Spreckelmeyer of the Department of State; Arthur Gillette of UNESCO for his assistance with Cuba; Charles Hauch of the Office of Education for his supplying out of print reference materials; and many of my colleagues in NAFSA and AACRAO, too numerous to mention individually, who all offered suggestions and moral support. This kind of support cannot be underestimated. My personal thanks also goes to tha resource personnel for the workshop. Their interest, dedication, hard work and excellent presentations made my part of the process much easier and more enjoyable. I am also grateful to the parti- cipants who comprised one of the most thoughtful, challenging and, enjoyable groups I have had the pleasure of working with. Their contribution very much affected the report which is being presented. I hope that this report will express our insight into the various educational systems and our commitment to a better under- standing of those :systems within our own colleges and universities. Cassandra A. Pyle, Workshop Director iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ii Acknowledgements ii Workshop Staff, Participants, Observers vi INTRODUCTION 1 GENERAL ADMISSION AND ACADEMIC PLACEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS 2 BACKGROUND PICTURE TO THE CARIBBEAN AREA 3 BRITISH PATTERNED CARIBBEAN I Outline for the British Patterned Caribbean 6 II Background 8 III Educational System Today 9 IV Special Characteristics and Quality Factors 29 Required Academic Credentials 33 VI Placement Recommendations 34 VII Bibliography 36 VIII Sample Credentials 39 CUBA I Chart of the Educational System Before 1959 and After 46 II Background 47 III Educational System -- Until 1959 51 IV Edudational System -- After 1959 57 Special Characteristics and Quality Factors 61 VI Required Academic Credentials 62 VII Placement Recommendations -- Before 1959 65 VIII Recommendations -- After 1959 . 65 IX Glossary.. 66 X Bibliography . 68 XI Sample Credentials 69 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC I Charts of the Old and New Educational Systems 80 II Background 81 III Educational System Today 83 IV Special Characteristics and Quality Factors 93 Required Academic Credentials 94 VI