Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Wow! End of a Voyage AND The Program???

The Chronicle of Higher Education

June 16, 2008

Scholar Ship Cancels Next Year's Voyages

After just a single academic year in operation, an innovative program that offered students a chance to pursue a degree while sailing the world has succumbed to financial pressures and ceased operation, at least for the coming year. The Scholar Ship, whose sponsors included Royal Caribbean Cruises and an international consortium of universities, has announced that the next cruise, which had been planned for September, will not take place.

Ron Zighelboim, the program’s founder and managing director, said the current economic climate had forced the cruise line to cut its financial support of the Scholar Ship. “Amid the stratospheric costs of oil and food, which are Royal Caribbean’s two biggest expenses, they are understandably tightening their belt,” he said. “The shame of it all is that it’s happened just as we were coming off our first year of operation, when we had operated two very successful voyages and felt that we were really hitting our stride.”

Some 400 students from 35 countries took part in the first two voyages, and 350 students had enrolled for the coming academic year. Mr. Zighelboim said that students who had signed up for cruises this fall and in early 2009 would be reimbursed. Some 100 employees, including 30 to 40 academic staff members, will also be affected by the cancellations.

Mr. Zighelboim was optimistic that the program would find backers to support future cruises, but said it was too late to salvage the cruises planned for the coming year. If enough money is found, there might be a chance of operating a cruise in September 2009, he said.

Students determined to study on the high seas are not necessarily forced ashore. Semester at Sea, a program that dates from the 1960s, has posted a notice on its Web site encouraging students who had planned on participating in Scholar Ship cruises to apply for the rival program. —Aisha Labi