A majority of students from India recently recruited by Western Kentucky University for its graduate program in computer science have not met their academic requirements.
WKU spokesman Bob Skipper says 59 students from India were recruited in a pilot project for the 2016 spring semester. At the end of the semester, 41 of those students did not meet the requirements of their admission.
Eight of the students came close to meeting the requirements and are appealing. They are expected to be reinstated. The remainder have been dismissed from the university. Nineteen have transferred to other colleges.
James Gary, chairman of the computer science department at Western Kentucky University, says the first semester can be challenging for the graduate students from India.
“The most common difficulty is they do not seem to have the level of programming expertise that we would expect from a student with an undergraduate degree in computer science,” says Gary.
From his experience working with the graduate students who have been admitted to the WKU program, Gary says undergraduate computer science programs in India seem to have a more theoretical aspect and less hands-on training.
“We want to try to do what is best for the student. It doesn’t seem ethical to me to allow them to stay and continue paying tuition and spending their time if we don’t see a reasonable chance that they will be successful.”
Gary says WKU does have a specific course intended help the international students bring their programming skills up to the necessary level to continue in the program.
“We want to try to do what is best for the student. It doesn’t seem ethical to me to allow them to stay and continue paying tuition and spending their time if we don’t see a reasonable chance that they will be successful.”
WKU plans to make changes to its international recruiting. One adjustment is having graduate faculty members participate in recruiting trips abroad.
