Page 1 - Issue 92

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biweekly

Issue 92/February 13, 2015

Another Increase in Tuition For Upcoming Academic Year Opinion Logos - An Old

By Jetmira Allushi and Aliaksandra Salanevich Club with New
he Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting, an proved an additional contribution of $110,000 activity fee is raised by $50 and will be $500 Beginnings
event which became synonymous with from the internal sources for the Development for the next year.
T“increase out tuition meeting“ in the and Alumni Office and agreed to reduce the However, knowing that the dollar price is sky
eyes of the students, was held in New York City Grand Campaign Goal from $50 million to $40 rocketing, and most of the students are from Learn about the club where
on Feb. 1. million, while keeping the closing date un- an international background, the Board should you can discuss life, religion
The official task of the BoT books is to cover changed. Other than the tuition part, the rest have considered at least the USD to BGN rates. and more on p. 2
the issues of the financial year, profit, endow- of the resolutions appeared to be pretty ob- “It's not a done decision that fees will in-
ment fund, expenses and admissions. scure for students. crease automatically 5%, in fact there was a JMC Fulbright &
Students must have more updated informa- Sullivan said that the Board of Trustees ap- lot of discussion on whether or not to increase Travel Writer: Dan
tion on the progress and the challenges of proved the percentage increase for tuition and the fees and by how much. Your student rep-
AUBG, especially after the change of the ad- fees recommended last semester by the Uni- resentatives actually made a strong case not Fellner
missions criteria, which has sparked up discus- versity Administration, as well as the Student to increase fees and to protect students’ in-
sions about AUBG being in financial trouble. Financial Affairs Committee. terests and there was some sympathy for this Meet new visiting professor
The update from the recent meeting is a reso- Thus, to date the changes are as follows. on the Board,” said a source who would like to who has been to over 100
lution email about the increase in tuition, hous- The cost of tuition is increased by $500 and remain anonymous. countries on p. 2
ing, and the activity fee. will amount to $11,300. The housing cost in A more detailed description of the Board of
It also states that the Board accepts gifts Skaptopara 1, 2 and 3 is increased by $40 and Trustees meeting was held on Feb.11 during Back after Ten Years:
and grants made to the university. The BoT ap- will be $1,390 and $1,710, respectively. The the regular Student Government meeting.
A Student’s Story
Capstones: The Stressful & Hectic Reality Insight Are you wondering if you ac-

By Aita Romanova and Marina Georgieva tually need a degree? Find
the answer on p.2
n the first week of classes, Jan. 20, student representative of the department, this way she can make her project fit the
the Journalism and Mass Commu- Katarina Duknic. It included a five-day requirements for a master’s degree. SAGE Campaign:
Onication (JMC) department orga- deadline for applications, and a limitation Igor Myakotin, a senior who was selected
nized a capstone pitching presentation for on capstone projects - three students per to do his project as a capstone, has already Raising Issues
JMC seniors who graduate in May 2015. faculty. The department has also previously been working on it since September 2014.
Twelve students presented their ideas for increased a minimum major GPA eligibility He said he thought the new strict rules were The controversial posters had
senior projects in front of four faculty mem- from 3.00 to 3.25. understandable. “Capstone is a lot of work everybody talking. The club
bers of the department with more than 20 Some students complained about the for students, and it’s a lot of work for pro- explains the meaning behind
students to watch. “late” notification of the deadline. Duknic fessors,” Myakotin explained. “Doing a cap- them on p.3
“There were very interesting and diverse said two students contacted her consider- stone is a privilege.”
projects proposed on the presentations,” ing the email she sent from the faculty. “They “We just don’t have enough professors AUBG’s Super
said Assistant Professor Dinka Sprivoska. were dissatisfied with the changes and wor- to be able to take on that many capstones,”
The faculty approved five projects for cap- ried about their chance of getting to do a said Assistant Professor Mark Wollemann. Mario Tournament
stones: two students supervised by Assis- capstone… I've spoken to more people after “It’s a lot of extra work, and you don’t get
tant Professor and the Chair of the Depart- that, and the general opinion was that the paid for it. It’s a huge time commitment.” We finally found the reason
ment Melody Gilbert, two by Associate new rules are too strict, and that everybody In Spring 2014, JMC faculty had an over- why students ask obvious
Professor Lynnette Leonard, and one by who wants to do a capstone should be al- whelming amount of extra work. “We went questions. See on p. 5
Spirovska. Several students who were not lowed to do one. The entire department was from three or four [capstone projects] in
selected have registered their projects as an informed about the seniors' concerns.” total to 19,” Gilbert said. “Maybe we overdid A Controversial
independent study course instead. Mirela Dineva, a JMC senior student, was it last year, running a marathon. Maybe we
This was the first time the pitching pre- also unpleasantly surprised by the new should do a half-marathon first.” Phenomenon,
sentation was public. Moreover, a new ap- regulations implemented last semester. “I Leonard also felt extra pressure on her Out This
plication process was introduced in the thought I was already approved,” she said. work a year ago. “I didn’t feel good about
semester of Fall 2014. In late September, After the pitching presentation, Dineva my ability to perform when there was that Valentine’s Day
the JMC faculty presented changes in the was not selected to work on a capstone, much in addition to what I was doing al-
application and registration process of pro- but she registered her project as an inde- ready: teaching and grading for my classes,” A preview into the world of
fessional and academic internships, and pendent study. “I believe, [it] will not affect she said. “For me it was very much about Grey on p.6
capstone projects. In the middle of Novem- negatively my application to a graduate ‘How can I do work that I’m proud of as a
ber, JMC seniors received an email from the school,” she said. Moreover, Dineva thinks teacher and as a mentor?’”

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