Comments on: Budget concerns mean fewer J-Term courses abroad

By: Michael Blissenbach

Michael Blissenbach — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:43:14 +0000

For me, the deciding factor was the Catholic identity of the university. You can get a quality study abroad program at virtually any university, but only a Catholic university can show you how to see the world through Catholic eyes, which is very different from seeing the world through secular eyes.
Yes, the study abroad aspect is nice, and I think it should be kept if possible without drastically increasing tuition (which is already way much more than it should be at a Catholic university), but I’d like to see the Catholic Studies and Philosophy programs marketed more aggressively. We have one of the best Thomistic-Aristotelian philosophy programs, and the oldest, largest and best Catholic Studies program in the country, and neither of them are talked about much or fairly highlighted on campus tours. They’re probably the best-kept secret at the university.
When I started at St. Thomas, I knew nothing about either of them, really, and I ended up majoring in both of them. Why not share these great programs with the rest of the world?

By: Dan Wanous

Dan Wanous — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:03:53 +0000

After reading this article, I think St Thomas should reconsider their plan of action for the study abroad program. One of the deciding factors of enrolling at St Thomas, was the amount of study abroad programs they offered. I think alot of students would agree with this, and if they start cutting these programs, St Thomas may be losing some outstanding students. Like the article stated, St Thomas is ranked 5th nationally in study abroad programs, and I believe they need to keep this aspect to the university.

By: James Heaney

James Heaney — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:55:37 +0000

While reading this article about our desperate financial situation and the need to face budgetary realities and start cutting into our uniquely popular, extensive, and transformational study aboard course offerings, I am looking out a window at the new Anderson Athletic and Recreation Center, which is being constructed across the quad. That building is costing $52 million to build and some tens of thousands to heat every year after that until the end of time.

Now I’m laughing. Our admins sure have their priorities straight!

By: Kathryn Pogin

Kathryn Pogin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:11:40 +0000

It seems kind of crazy to not let a professor run a course if he’s willing to do the work of setting it up himself. I’d be curious to know how much money is made on a course like Ethics East and West, versus an Introductory Ethics course on campus- but even if Intoductory Ethics makes significantly more money per student, if dropping options like Ethics in Hawai’i detracts from our reputation as a University, then it seems like that would result in greater fiscal loss for UST. As far as I know, this course is by far the most popular of the philosophy course offerings that doesn’t deal strictly with western philosophy- for that reason alone, I think eliminating it is a loss for the University.

Also- isn’t Don Miller also chair of Modern and Classical Languages Department, which offers study abroad courses? Isn’t that a conflict of interest?