6 August 2004 Foundation Studies Award Ceremony at Lincoln University

Lincoln University is having its first Award Ceremony for all its Certificate in Foundation Studies holders.

The occasion is on Wednesday 11 August at 2.00pm in the University's Stewart 1 Lecture Theatre. Lincoln's Chancellor Margaret Austin will make the awards and the ceremony will be attended by members of the University Council and senior staff including the Director of Foundation Studies, Derek Chapman. Many Chinese students will be among those to receive the Certificate in Foundation Studies in person from the University Chancellor.

Over 1000 students have enrolled in Foundation Studies at Lincoln University since the start of the course in February 2000 and as many as possible have been notified about the Award Ceremony – around 150 have indicated they will able to attend.

Foundation Studies is a university entrance qualification designed to prepare candidates for tertiary study. It meets the entrance requirements of all New Zealand universities and involves a one-year course covering eight subjects.

The emphasis in the Lincoln University approach to Foundation Studies is on the acquisition of the skills needed for success at university rather than simply on the acquisition of a body of knowledge. It emphasises skills in Computing, English Language and Communication, Mathematics, Statistics, and Learning and Study.

The Lincoln University Foundation Studies programme was the first designed in New Zealand expressly for New Zealand conditions. The programme was designed particularly for international students and it has been a very popular pathway to university for Chinese students in particular.

"Among Chinese students it has been a most successful pathway for those wanting to go to university in New Zealand," says Derek Chapman, Lincoln University's Director of Foundation Studies. "It has proved far more reliable for them than Bursary."

Lincoln currently has over 500 students enrolled in fulltime degree courses from among those who have completed the Certificate in Foundation Studies. Other certificate holders are studying elsewhere throughout New Zealand and at overseas universities.

The first group of Foundation Studies students to go on and complete degrees at Lincoln University graduated in April this year and another graduated this year from Columbus State University in the United States.

Last year, former Lincoln Foundation Studies student Jeremy Ng of Singapore successfully completed a Bachelor of Commerce at Canterbury University, becoming the first of the Lincoln Foundation Studies students to graduate with a university degree.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand