northwest missourian
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 | V87 | N5
nwmissourinews.com
Electronic campus founder set to retire TREY WILLIAMS Editor-in-Chief
1976 1987 1987 1996 2008
Rickman became director of Computing Services.
Rickman created the 1st campus-wide academic comprehensive computing in the nation.
Northwest became known as the electronic campus.
Rickman was promoted to vice president of information systems.
Northwest became the 1st university in the nation to provide students with laptops and textbooks.
Loan defaults pose no challenge for students Philip Gruenwald Opinion Editor
For the 70 percent of Northwest students with federal student loans, defaulting, or failing to pay back the loan, is the thing to avoid. Fortunately for them, the number of Northwest students defaulting on loans, announced last week, decreased from 4.6 to 4.3 percent since last year. Northwest’s case is in striking opposition to the national average, which saw default rates increase from 7 to 8.8 percent, and Missouri’s average, jumping from 5.8 to 7.6 percent. “Our default rates have always been lower than the national average,” Del Morley, director of financial assistance, said. “(Students) understand that if you have debt, you have to take care of it. And combine that with our placement rate, which has always been really high, nearly one of the highest in the state, and combine that with the fact that we have good, responsible people who are getting employed, and they take care of business.” For Northwest’s students, bucking state and national defaulting norms during an un-
settled economy could be the effects of a variety of factors. Better financial training, higher job placement, higher retention rates, increased student employment and competitive graduates top Provost Doug Dunham’s list of reasons for the low rates. “I could go on for hours why I think the employability is there,” Dunham said. “I think it’s a combination of our faculty doing a good job building those foundational skills in general education, critical thinking, communication and analytical skills.” Despite the low default rates, Northwest students are borrowing more money than ever before. Beginning in 2008, the U.S. government allowed an additional $2,000 for students to borrow. The limit on borrowing is $5,500 for freshmen, $6,500 for sophomores and $7,500 for upper classmen. Morley acknowledged that the number of students who borrow money has also increased. “A large number of our students borrow the maximum that’s available to them each year,” Morley said. This means that students graduate with debt. For NorthSEE LOAN | A5 www.nwmissourinews.com
Thirty-five years ago, the year was 1976. The movie Rocky transformed Sylvester Stallone into the “Italian Stallion,” the Swedish pop group ABBA added to the list of songs played in teenage movies with “Dancing Queen” and Dr. Jon T. Rickman began transforming Northwest into The Electronic Campus and changing the way students learned. Rickman is retiring after 35 years dedicated to keeping Northwest at the epicenter of technological advancements. Prior to working at Northwest, the Maryville native worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company and taught at the University of Central Missouri, Pennsylvania State University and Southern Illinois University. In his 45 years of work, he has also written and edited four books and published nearly 70 articles. In 2002, he helped create the Jean Jennings Bartik Computing Museum at Northwest. When Rickman began teaching at the University and working as the director of computing services in 1976, things at Northwest were a little different. “In 1976, we did have a computer science program… and we used pretty much the only computing resource we had at that time, which was an IBM 360,” Rickman said. “Students would have maybe 10 or 15 minutes per week or every so many days they would come in to
a key punch lab and punch up their programs.” That was then – the ’70s. Those were the years when computers, “would be two times the size of a desk and about five feet tall,” Rickman said. However, in Rickman’s opinion, Northwest has done a good job thus far in moving forward with the ever changing world of technology. “The first step in transformation of the campus into a high access, low cost interactive network, was to start buying micro computers and super mini computers,” Rickman said. Northwest was able to buy these early forms of personal-home desktop computers for little a under $1,000. Until then, Rickman said most computers cost several hundred thousand dollars. “The second step was to put together an interactive network of terminals connected to a super time-sharing computer,” Rickman said. Time-sharing computers came around in the ’60s and were considered a major shift in technology. They allowed for the sharing of a computing resource among many users by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking “With all the money we were saving, we were able to buy several super mini computers. We could buy several a year to where we could have pretty much the basement of Owens library full of time-sharing computers.
JON RICKMAN
SEE RICKMAN | A5
University pairs up with St. Lukes for new program Darleen Denno News Editor
Northwest students studying radiology no longer have to worry about rushing through their bachelor’s degree to start their studies at a medical school. Now they can start medical school during their junior year. Northwest recently signed an agreement with Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City allowing students to obtain a certificate in radiologic technology from Saint Luke’s School of Radiologic Technology, while completing coursework for a Bachelor of Science degree in radiologic sciences at Northwest. Radiology involves imaging bones, blood vessels and many other different areas of the body. During their two years at Saint Luke’s, students rotate through the hospital’s 10 clinical sites. This rotation is aimed to make the students more marketable, and to expand their knowledge of various medical fields. “By the time they finish, they will have experienced a little bit of everything,” Mary Woodridge, program director for Saint Luke’s School of Radiologic Technology, said. The Board of Regents approved the addition of a Bachelor of Science degree in radiologic sciences to Northwest’s curriculum during the Dec. 17 meeting. Saint Luke’s Hospital, School of Radiologic Technology is a 24@TheMissourian
DARREN WHITLEY | UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
President John Jasinski and Kevin Thorpe, senior vice president of operations at Saint Luke’s Hospital, shake hands after signing the articulation agreement.
month certificate-granting program. The school offers extensive clinical and didactic instruction to maximize the student’s learning experience. Clinical instruction is the practical application of what is taught in the classroom. The deadline to submit applications for Fall 2012 is Jan. 13, 2012. Saint Luke’s program is extremely competitive — only 20 students are accepted to the program at Saint Luke’s, and that includes students from other schools. Participating students comNorthwest Missourian
plete their first two years at Northwest; during the second year they apply to Saint Luke’s program. After acceptance, students will study at Saint Luke’s for their remaining two years. Of the 129 credit hours required for graduation, 62 are completed at Saint Luke’s. While students study general courses at Northwest, they will pay Northwest’s tuition; likewise when they study at Saint Luke’s, they will pay Saint Luke’s tuition. Students studying at Saint Luke’s have to find their own lodging off campus in the Kansas City area.