The State Hornet - EDITORIAL: Why can’t we get help with graduation now?

The State Hornet - EDITORIAL: Why can’t we get help with graduation now?

While The State Hornet supports the California State University system’s initiative to increase graduation rates, we are not completely convinced nor satisfied with the proposal as it is now.

The systemwide initiative is expected to raise CSU graduation rates from 46 to 54 percent by 2016. Each of the system’s 23 campuses will make individual changes to meet this plan.

“Of all of the groups discussing this issue on the 23 CSU campuses, ours probably has the largest number of faculty involved,” said Anthony Sheppard, Sacramento State Faculty Senate chair.

Sac State plans to address this initiative through a series of changes including reforming General Education requirements. Provost and vice president of Academic Affairs Joseph Sheley said the current system is “mainstream” and used by most American universities, but that it no longer works. 

“The problem is that the mainstream has now hit the wall in institutions throughout the country,” Sheley said Jan. 21 at President Alexander Gonzalez’s spring address. “In this vein, I’ve asked the senate executive committee to help me begin serious discussions about revising GE. I’ll be asking them as well to assist me in initiating similar discussion about structuring the size of major requirements, the breadth of major requirements and GE such that our students have far more flexibility in selecting courses under a broader electives category. It’s about giving them more options.”

And that is exactly what it should be about: giving students as many options as possible. But that’s the problem with this initiative; it seems to forget about current students.

How is an initiative to increase graduation rates in 6 years going to benefit students that can’t even get into required classes? Some of us can’t even find enough classes to meet financial aid requirements of at least 12 units per semester.