GRE suspension put on some UTPB graduate programs
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J. Tillapaugh has a vision for UTPB graduate student admissions testing - and it's just recently started to take shape. Tillapaugh, assistant vice president for graduate studies at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, said graduate students haven't had a GRE testing opportunities in the Odessa-Midland area since December. The area testing center, which was in Midland, closed in mid-January, he said, noting it left several Odessa graduate students with little choice in taking the Graduate Record Examination.
The closest location to take the GRE for an Odessa or Midland resident is Lubbock, he said. "We believe that becomes an obstacle to graduate attendance," he said. "We don't want to create obstacles. "We want to remove obstacles," he said. Tillapaugh's been working with Prometric, a national technological testing and assessment service, and the Education Testing Service to establish a testing site at the university by the end of the year. Jodi Katz, Prometric corporate communications manager, said the company has been working with UTPB to develop a new testing site for people in the area. "We just think it's a good partnership opportunity for us," Katz said. As a result of not having a current testing site, Tillapaugh said, certain graduate programs like history and English don't require spring, summer or fall 2008 admitted graduate students to take the GRE if they graduate from UTPB. However, the GRE suspension isn't valid for students who live outside of the Odessa-Midland area, he said. UTPB graduate student Anthony Frost said he knows he isn't required to take the GRE to receive a master's degree in history from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin right now. The 54-year-old Ector Junior High history teacher said said a testing center at the university would provide resources for people to use as a "stepping stone" to continue their education or further their careers. "A testing center here would be good for a lot of people," he said. |
