On the Road with the Rhode Island Association of Admission Officers

Brown University

Braving the unpredictable New England weather, the Rhode Island Association of Admission Officers (RIAAO) hit the road last week to introduce 39 school-based and independent counselors to all ten of its member colleges and universities.

Starting at Roger Williams University in Bristol and ending at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence, the tour hit virtually every corner of the Ocean State—“Smallest of the forty eight.”

While the campuses were bustling with spring concerts and year-end festivities, admissions offices were working behind the scenes to bring admitted students to campus and finalize plans for the Class of 2017. 

Here is a little more of what the 39 counselors learned about each school:

Roger Williams University.  Roger Williams launched the Student Advocacy Office to help new and returning students make the often difficult and challenging transition to college.  Each student is assigned an advocate who answers questions and provides support for adjustments to campus life.  The university is now offering an Intercultural Leadership Award—full tuition—to students who have overcome a life challenge, are first generation, or speak English as a second language.

New England Institute of Technology.  New England Tech is an “open enrollment” institution and requires no standardized tests for admissions.  Advanced academic credit is available through agreements with approved high schools as well as through experience in a particular field.  Among the more notable undergraduate programs is the Video Game Design major, which was recently named to Princeton Review’s 2013 list of top schools to study game design, along with MIT and the University of Southern California.

Salve Regina University.  Housed on a stunning campus featuring no less than 1500 trees and majestic mansions, Salve is one of only 21 colleges to be accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.  Salve's Department of Psychology offers a sequence of courses that prepares students interested in working with special needs children to sit for the Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst exam.

Bryant University.  Bryant and its U.S.-China Institute are working on an ambitious project that will bring a replica of the Forbidden City’s Shu Fang Zhai to campus.  Buildings will be fabricated in China and shipped in parts to be reconstructed on campus.  The project is scheduled to begin in August, 2013.

University of Rhode Island.  URI offers several innovative degree options including the International Engineering Program (IEP), the International Business Program (IBP), and a dual degree program combining Pharmacy and French.  Both the IEP and the IBP allow students to earn two degrees simultaneously:  a BS in engineering or business administration and a BA in German, French, Spanish, or Chinese—all within five years.  Students enrolled in the Doctor of Pharmacy program may earn a BA in French or Certificate in French and Pharmacy. 

Johnson and Wales University.  JWU enrolls more than 17,000 students on four campuses in Providence, North Miami, Denver and Charlotte. Students take classes in their majors starting first term through the JWU's “upside down” curriculum and  may earn bachelor degrees from the College of Business, the Hospitality College, the School of Technology, the College of Culinary Arts, and the White School of Arts and Sciences.  The university has spent $5 million to develop its Providence Harborside campus including the 82,000 square foot Cuisinart Center for Culinary Excellence (CCCE), which features a state-of-the-art environment specifically designed to accommodate the university’s advanced culinary curriculum.

Providence College.  The nation’s only Dominican college, Providence has been “test optional” for 7 years.  PC’s new Core Curriculum took effect with the class of 2016 and includes a revitalized Development of Western Civilization (DWC) program, which is a four semester, 16-credit course taken in the freshman and sophomore years.

Rhode Island College.  Celebrating its 160th anniversary, RIC is the oldest public institution of higher learning in the state.  Academic offerings are provided in five schools:  the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Feinstein School of Education and Human Development, the School of Management, the School of Nursing, and the School of Social Work.  Students whose permanent address is within one of several specified Massachusetts or Connecticut communities are eligible for a special tuition discount under the Metropolitan Tuition Policy (MTP), which equals in-state tuition plus 50% or $10,863 for 2012-13.

Brown University.  Founded in 1764, Brown offers undergraduates the opportunity to pursue studies in more than 70 concentrations ranging from Egyptology to computational biology. Select first-year students may be accepted to the Program in Liberal Medical Education, which combines a Brown Baccalaureate with an MD degree at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown, or they may choose the Brown-RISD Dual Degree program, in which students earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design and an AB from Brown. Students enrolled in these programs must meet certain program requirements in addition to Brown's usual undergraduate degree requirements.

Rhode Island School of Design.  As the studio curriculum for all first-year undergraduate students at RISD, Foundation Studies is comprised of three programs of study: Drawing, Design and Spatial Dynamics, each of which meets one full day per week for 7.5 hours.  For purposes of the application process, the “portfolio is king” and should reflect (to the extent possible) each of the 3 components of the Foundation Studies program.