Douglas CONNER
General Background on The W E S Project
Since the 1950's, A A C R A O (The American Association of Collegiate Regis- trars and Admissions Officers) has received modest support to produce books on the educational systems of foreign countries. The activity was dependent on a broad professional volunteer effort and was directed to countries which per- sons might be visiting at their o w n expense or supported by small grants. For m a n y years, this limitation provided an uneven concentration on the foreign countries about which information was needed.
A request was made in 1972 to the United States Information Agency to not only provide a grant to support a more directed approach to the review of the educational systems of foreign countries about which information was sparse but needed, but also to improve the quality relative to the content and format of the books of the sort mentioned above.
The grants have made possible the publication and distribution of books which describe the educational systems of foreign countries and make recom- mendations aimed at U . S . higher education admissions officers with regard to admissions and placement policies and procedures. These efforts have greatly facilitated the movement of sponsored and non-sponsored foreign students into United States higher education institutions. The support received has greatly benefitted the original meager effort permitting the expansion and improvement of the counseling and advising offered to foreign students.
The W E S volumes are the major — indeed often the only — resources for the assessment of the credentials of students w h o have studied abroad.
All of the educational institutions in the United States and Canada as well as m a n y agencies which deal with international studies rely on them as the pri- mary reference document. The placement recommendations, which are care- fully reviewed by the National Council on the Evaluation of Foreign Educa- tional Credentials, provide uniform benchmarks for evaluating applications and assisting in the admissions and placement of international students.
D. Connor
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National Council on the Evaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials The National Council is an interassociational group that serves as a forum for developing consensuses on the evaluation and recognition of certificates, diplomas, and degrees awarded throughout the world. It also assists in estab- lishing priorities for research and publication of country, regional, or topical studies. One of its principal purposes is to review and to modify admissions and placement recommendations drafted by World Education Series authors or others w h o might ask for such reviews. The institutional membership of the Council includes seven educational associations: The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, The American Council on Education, The American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, The Council of Graduate Schools, The National Association for Foreign Stu- dent Affairs, The Institute for International Education, and The College Board, as well as three observer organizations representing governmental agencies: The United States Information Agency, The Agency for Interna- tional Development, and the University of the State of N e w York.In the U . S . the National Council represents the single unifying body dealing with the equivalence of international credentials. The chairman of the Council has represented the United States at two international conferences sponsored by Unesco on the acceptance and equivalence of degrees at the international level. The W E S books that contain the placement recommendations approved by the Council place the very latest information and recommendations before those in the field of higher education in the public and private sector in the U . S . and abroad.
Description of A W E S Volume
Every W E S volume contains the following information as it pertains to a particular country:
Front Matter — Lists of contents, tables, documents, preface ; Library of Congress and International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
Introduction — M a p of country, chart of educational system ; one page of data on the country; description of the entire educational system.
Preschool through Secondary — Concentrates on the following aspects of secondary education : types of institutions ; calendar, curricula (including teacher training and vocational where appropriate) for lower (intermediate) and upper secondary; grading system; examinations for all types of curricula, certificates and diplomas awarded, with printed samples.
Higher Education — Describes the types and levels of higher education, types of institutions, undergraduate academic programmes, grading and credit systems, degrees and other awards such as certificates and diplomas (with samples included), professional education (if appropriate in that chapter), and graduate education (unless treated separately).
Types of education that m a y be treated either in one of the areas listed above or in a separate chapter or appendix include information pertaining to
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AACRAO World Education Series Projectthe health fields, military and police training, teacher training, theological education, and vocational/technical training.
Placement recommendations are given for each level of education begin- ning with the termination of what would be compared to the ninth grade in the United States and ending with the graduate level. Placement is also given for vocational or nonformal programmes of indeterminate level. Preceding the placement recommendations is a section which gives advice to admissions officers on unusual aspects of the system. It might include recent changes in the system or imminent changes, suspicious degrees or diplomas, confusing terminology, credit transfer, etc.
Back Matter — Includes appendices listing institutions of higher education with address, enrollment, library holdings, undergraduate and graduate pro- g r a m m e s , and degrees awarded. Also included in the back matter is a glossary, bibliography, and index.
The project activity is programmed on a two-year basis which creates a continuous ongoing activity for the production of four to six books. T h e most recently completed volumes are on Belgium and Korea. A A C R A O is currently working on two grants for volumes on Haiti, W e s t G e r m a n y , Malaysia, D o m - inican Republic, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Austria.
Volumes are distributed under the U S I A grant to a wide audience of edu- cators that are involved in admissions and international education. W h e n the available stock of volumes is depleted, other volumes are microfilmed and m a d e accessible through the "Books on D e m a n d " programme of University Micro- films International, an organization which makes publications available in xerographic editions.
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Information
C A N A D A :
Announcement on the Establishment of the Canadian Higher Education Research Network ( C H E R N ) by the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education and the Faculty of Administration, University of Ottawa
The honourable Walter F . McLean, Secretary of State of Canada, recently announced under the Centres of Specialization Fund the creation of:
"The Canadian Higher Education Research Network, to be estab- lished by the University of Ottawa in collaboration with the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education, receives
$ 300,000. This will allow for the creation of a network to link centres of research on post-secondary education and individual researchers located across Canada. The network will exploit new information technologies to produce and disseminate research findings. The network will give priority to research areas of interest to the student population such as accessibility."
The objective of this national network is to promote research on Canadian Higher Education in such a w a y as to forge new ties between researchers in m a n y different disciplines, as well as to electronically link the Higher Education Community with practitioners in government, industry, and other institutions across Canada. This joint venture will thus provide a bilingual national forum for the exchange of ideas and research.
This network ( C H E R N ) will undertake a wide range of activities, including the publication of monographs, working papers, and feasibility studies, as well as the organization of conferences, symposia, and workshops.
Community College and University Education is both an industry and an area of continuing social concern in Canada. C H E R N hopes to serve its c o m m u n -
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Informationity in assisting the public and private sectors to identify m o r e clearly their educational priorities, and to communicate these requirements to its con- stituents and society at large.
The Secretariat of C H E R N is located at the Faculty of Administration:
Canadian Higher Education Research Network, c/o Faculty of Administration, University of O t t a w a , 275 Nicholas Street, O t t a w a , Ontario K I N 6 N 5 Tel: (613) 2 3 1 - 3 3 0 1 / 2 3 1 - 5 0 5 9
(Source: Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education, April 26, 1985)
D E N M A R K :
. . . In an effort to deal with the diminishing job prospects for arts grad- uates, D e n m a r k ' s five universities plan to introduce n e w shorter degree courses better geared to the practical needs of private industry and c o m m e r c e in
order to offer a m o r e flexible range of non-humanistic subjects built o n an arts base.
(Source: HE EA Newsletter, September 1985, p. 19)