Skewed ACTC participation
Almost twice as many ACTC students choose to study at Macalester as Macalester students choose to study at consortium schools
By: Emma WestRasmus
Issue date: 10/23/09 Section: News
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She can be found in Olin-Rice and the Humanities building most weekdays, where she takes classes for her linguistics and neuroscience double majors and classics minor. She dates a Macalester senior, prints off homework assignments from the Dewitt Wallace library and meets with Macalester professors for career advice.
The twist?
Bloomquist is a full-time student enrolled at St. Catherine University. She may be the only student this semester pursuing a major at Macalester through the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities, or ACTC, but her situation embodies the opportunity ACTC students have to make use of Macalester resources.
For the past four or five semesters, students from local colleges have been taking more classes at Macalester than Macalester students have been taking at other institutions. In recent semesters Macalester has hosted nearly twice as many students from the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities as Macalester students have taken ACTC classes.
The ACTC is a consortium of five area colleges and universities, which, according to the ACTC Web site, aims to "combine the community atmosphere of a small liberal arts college with the diversity of opportunities of a large university." Full-time students enrolled at one institution are typically able to take one class per semester from another ACTC school, with some exceptions, particularly for students pursuing a major and minor from a different institution than they are enrolled at, and Macalester Registrar Jayne Niemi said that students are usually restricted to courses not offered at their own school.
Bloomquist started taking classes at Macalester last semester, and is taking 12 credits this semester toward her degrees, in addition to two general requirement classes at St. Kate's. Though her situation is fairly unique, Bloomquist said she feels "very comfortable" at Macalester and cites a strong support system of advisors on both campuses, including Macalester faculty in her departments of study.
Bloomquist chose to attend St. Kate's in part because she knew from early on that she wanted to take advantage of the ACTC. While she notes she notes that it is sometimes "a challenge" to take classes away from her campus, and there's a lot of "negotiating between the two communities," Bloomquist said, "I wanted a big school, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to major in, so I felt okay going to St. Kate's because I knew I could always have the opportunities that the ACTC offers."
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 4
Puzzled
posted 10/23/09 @ 11:18 AM CST
Of course more ACTC students study at Mac than Mac students study at other schools. There are four ACTC schools sending students here! Four schools send and average of 30 students each to Macalester (four schools send a total of 120 students here this semester). (Continued…)
Burt Reynolds
posted 10/23/09 @ 8:21 PM CST
Not into math/statistics are you? Certainly the enrollment numbers influence these totals as well as many other variables. I don't understand the point the author is making. (Continued…)
Mark Wahlberg
posted 10/23/09 @ 10:22 PM CST
I think there's a valid point to be made about the cost effectiveness of Mac's participation in ACTC. As the school cuts costs and programming, it is spending resources to teach students enrolled elsewhere. (Continued…)
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