After three years at CSU, Jason Duggan expects that class
section cuts will keep him from graduating for a few more
years.
“Art classes cut off at about 20 people because the room is so
small,” said Duggan, a junior open-option art major. “The classes
only have one or two sections this semester, and they will be full
by the time I get to register. I don’t know what I’m going to
take.”
CSU’s enrollment has reached a record high of 25,042 students
this year while colleges are simultaneously decreasing class
section availability.
Reduction in the number of class sections available to students
is attributed to budget cuts. All of the CSU colleges have
experienced a decrease in available funds since last school year
due to state budget cuts, and many students are feeling the
effects.
For Kyle Hassenstab, a sophomore chemical engineering major, the
combination of increased enrollment and decreased class sections
presents the possibility of a delayed graduation date.
“I basically take 18 credits per semester and will still get out
in four and a half years, so I have to stick to a tight schedule
and this could have a really big impact on me and when I can
graduate,” Hassenstab said. “If nothing else, it is hard to put a
schedule together with that many credits.”
University officials have confidence that budget cuts will not
delay students from graduating.
Nancy Hartley, dean of the College of Applied Human Sciences,
represented the viewpoint of many colleges on campus when she said
that CSU students have to be diligent if they do not want section
cuts to delay their graduation.
“Of course, these cuts impact section size and course offerings
in the college,” Hartley said. “Most of our students can complete
their majors in four years if they take full loads each
semester.”
The aspect of taking a full course load does not worry Joshua
Pickett, a sophomore open-option seeking technical journalism
major, but he is concerned that section cuts will prevent him from
enrolling in the course he needs to declare a major.
“I have to get into JT210 (Newswriting) before I can even
declare my major,” Pickett said. “I don’t think I’ll get in this
semester and then I’ll just have to keep putting it off. The cuts
are holding me back for sure.”
Colleen Wright, a freshman fashion and merchandising major, said
that she is lucky to still have core curriculum course options but
that limited class sections in her major do not provide schedule
flexibility.
“I have to take Textiles and there’s only one time available,”
Wright said. “A bunch of people took it this semester so I hope I’m
OK, but if I get in I don’t have a choice; I have to take it on
Monday.”
In addition to scheduling problems, Linda Carlson, interim
department head of design and merchandising, said that budget cuts
have created an inability to hire new faculty members and have
created larger class sizes because colleges have had to combine
sections.
“The larger class sizes mean that students get less contact,”
Carlson said. “We’ve had to be lean and mean with section cuts to
get the job done, but we are working really hard to do that.”
Gaye Digregorio, assistant director of the Center for Advising
and Student Achievement, said larger class sizes is the main
problem caused by section cuts and that the educational impact of
larger class sizes is difficult to determine.
“The student impact will depend on the class,” Digregorio said.
“There is a point where it is going to affect the learning, but I
don’t think we can make a blanket statement that covers all the
classes.”
Still, Steve Keysar, a cell and molecular biology graduate
student, is a teaching assistant for a biology lab and is nervous
that increases in class size will decrease students’ learning
experiences.
“I just know that the more you pack students into a class, the
more likely they are to get lost in the cracks,” Keysar said.
Despite concerns about graduation dates and class sizes, Donald
Samelson, an associate professor for accounting, said the
university is doing its best to minimize the impact of course
section cuts on students and that students and faculty will have to
work together to reduce negative effects.
“We all have to realize that this is an extraordinary situation
and the university is experiencing really, really bad budget cuts,”
Samelson said. “We all have to do what we can to get through what
we hope is a temporary crisis.”
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