HIT: Sec: Career Ed. Network

[LEE GORDON <lgordon@NEVADA.EDU>]

For all of you who expressed interest in any responses to the quality
and catches of Career Education Network, I only receive two responses.
They were from librarians who had rejected the materials for their
schools.  Reasons:  Every student at the school MUST fill out an
application which goes to the company.  The brochure states "Students
will not receive advertisements and 'junk mail.' Student information
is not released to third parties." So what does the company do with all
these applications? The brochure states "The information is used to help
businesses identify students that are interested in their compnay and
will help postsecondary schools communicate with students that may be
interested in attending their school."  CEN apparently acts as a middle
man or clearinghouse for this info.  The two librarians who rejected
CEN did not want to be responsible for problems with confidentiality
or deluges of 'junk mail' (even if CEN didn't define it as junk).
Reason 2: The advertised video library is not ready yet, probably not
until later this spring, so quality is unknown.
The school's responsibilities are :1) Store materials where they are
accessible to students and faculty 2)No fees to be charged for usage
3) No copies of materials made 4)One faculty member is the CEN contact
5) ALL students, including new enrollees during year, will fill out
membership activation form 6)Make all programs available to all students
7) Place 3 or more posters in public places.  Schools may terminate
at any time and have the right to approve all programs, services, etc.

After reading the nice brochure (three times), and querying the LM-NET,
I have my reservations until I can see some of the promised products
which include videos, computer software or CD, company video profiles,
and Career Hotline available on Internet web site.
But for those of you who wanted to know more, contact CEN, 101 W. 10th
St., Indianapolis, IN 46204.  1-800-283-8477.
Maybe I'm just getting cynical in my old age, but there's gotta be a
catch!  (I'm afraid the students are the catch).
If anyone gives this a shot, please let all of us know.  We are very
curious.

Lee Gordon
Eldorado HS
Las Vegas, NV     lgordon@nevada.edu