The Quadrangle

Issue date: 10/11/06 Section: News

Report indicates that CMSV students did not fare as well in the classroom, prompting split.

The official documents concerning the split between Manhattan College and the College of Mount St. Vincent have been released. They confirm that the split between Manhattan and the College of Mount Saint Vincent will occur within the next two years.

In April of last year a consulting firm was hired by Manhattan College to rethink the relationship with the College of Mount Saint Vincent.

The consultant advised Manhattan College not to separate completely from the College of Mount Saint Vincent, but instead to "take major steps to eliminate areas of tension and planning" between the two institutions. One area in which the consultant noticed sharp
differences between the two schools was in the admissions department, noting that Manhattan seemed to reach out to prospective students from a wider range of areas, where as Mount Saint Vincent's student body was comprised mostly of people from the five boroughs.

The consultant's report stated that "data (SAT scores and GPA's of both student bodies) does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that Mount students do not fare as well in the classroom, but many students and a number of faculty members in the joined departments believe this to be the case."

This assumption caused many to question whether the connection between the two schools could be diminishing the quality of education of some of the students. The idea that the connection could be hindering the quality of education was the main reason for the split.

This past Wednesday, a meeting was held at which Brother Scanlan, Provost Jackson, Dean Brown, and Dean O'Donnell gave students the opportunity to ask questions about how the split will affect them. A major point stressed throughout the meeting was that the equivalent programs set up by Manhattan College will be up to standard with the ones that have previously been centered at the College of Mount Saint Vincent.

And although the number of professors in each department will be cut in half, the number of students will also be cut in half, evening out the student-teacher ratio. At the meeting, professors from the Mount also stressed that they will still be available to help Manhattan College students with anything they might need, such as letters of recommendation.

Continued...

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