To the Editor:
I would like to respond to both the article and editorial concerning AU Abroad that appeared in the March 8 edition of The Eagle. These articles discussed the results of an informal poll of AU Abroad participants conducted by one of your reporters.
We were sorry to learn that a small percentage of students feel they were not adequately informed in advance of our policies and procedures regarding the transfer of credit and grades from abroad. In fact, we do now and always have had standard, comprehensive policies and procedures in these areas, about which we fully inform students in advance of studying abroad. We do this through one-on-one advising sessions, group information meetings, pre-departure orientation sessions, on our Web site and in printed documents. Students are informed that all courses taken abroad must be approved for the specific type of AU credit by the relevant academic unit - not the AU Abroad Office - and we provide a standard form for that purpose. We inform students from the beginning that they must discuss their study abroad academic plans with their academic advisors to ensure they will receive appropriate credit for their AU requirements. We further advise students that these approvals must be obtained in advance of studying abroad, or soon after their arrival abroad via fax or e-mail. This latter frequently occurs due to on-site scheduling changes, late changes in course offerings made by host institutions, or simply a change of mind on the students' part.
But as your article outlines, it is unfortunately true that despite our best efforts, some students do not learn of our procedures and/or adequately understand them. We are constantly seeking to improve our communications with students to ensure our message gets across clearly to everyone.
While we are of course pleased that 85 percent of respondents either experienced no difficulties with their transfer of credit and grades, or felt that they had been fully informed of our procedures in advance, and that altogether 70 percent were fully satisfied with our office, our goal of course is to reach 100 percent student satisfaction in all areas. In response to recent feedback of the kind outlined in your article, we have made some recent changes and are hopeful that student confusion will be a thing of the past. Should any students wish to offer us more suggestions as to how we might improve communication about our services and procedures even further, we will be delighted to speak with them.
Sincerely,
Sara Dumont
Director, AU Abroad
Dear Editor,
I think highly of AU and its students, who represent the bright future of the United States. Further, I commend your student newspaper The Eagle for its quality, which is reflected in several awards.
That's why I was astounded to read the article "Slovenia gives EU conflicts, bad name," published in The Eagle on March 5. The author Jeff Lambert must have his own reasons to dislike Slovenia so much as to renounce the principal of ethical journalism and impartiality. I am surprised that such an insulting article that compares - without any trace of sounding correlation - my country with ethnic cleansing that killed more than 200.000 people during the wars in the region, gets at all published.
I do not deny anybody the right to critically assess Slovenia or its human rights record. Several international organizations and the U.S. are doing that on a regular basis. Constructive contributions on how to solve open issues, such as the status of the persons who did not regulate their status, are welcome. Unjustifiably vilifying the whole state, its citizens, its government, as well as euro and the EU in general, is not.
Let it be clear that Slovenia did not join the EU and NATO, and did not introduce the euro for the sake of "sending messages to the rest of the former Yugoslavia". We did it for a very simple reason - trying to provide for a better future of Slovenia and its people. And Slovenia is not "Balkanizing" the other successor states, but it is rather one of their biggest supporter and promoter within the EU and NATO. We believe that these countries should soon follow Slovenia into the EU and NATO and we are providing them assistance to speed that path.
Let me briefly explain the problem of the persons from the states of the regis-
