Full college classes keep students from graduating
By Josh Dulaney, Pasadena Star-News
A shortage of veteran professors and crushing enrollment demands in the California State University system are creating headaches for students who find themselves shut out of the classes they need to graduate in four to six years.
Known as bottleneck courses, there were 1,294 identified throughout CSU’s 23-campus system during the 2012-2013 academic year, according to a survey of 791 department chairs between June 14 and Sept. 6.
CSU officials point to a lack of tenured professors as the biggest cause for the logjam of courses. But other issues — the lack of lab space, students failing and retaking courses and a crush of students taking whatever courses are available in order to maintain the minimum workload needed to keep their financial aid — are driving increasingly harried CSU faculty and staff into semiannual rounds of class-switching, seat-shuffling and other measures to press as many students as possible into a classroom.
That’s life in the Big City. In fact, California has made a ruling that a student cannot repeat a class more than six times. This helps the students in the Big City get into a class.
But this ruling is hurting students in Tahoe. For example, it takes years for some art students to perfect their skills. I’ve been taking drawings classes for six years. Each year I improve but I have a lot more to learn. Unfortunately, I will not be allowed to continue my education because of this Big City ruling.
In Tahoe, many classes have been canceled because there were not enough students signed up for the class. Tahoe is not a Big City. The Big City rulings do not apply here. The Big City rulings are hurting us.
Ernie, don’t you realize you are the problem. Why should the state sponsor your hobby? Maybe you should go to San Francisco and attend a private art school. You sometimes have to give up something to get something.
Then again you may just be spoofing us to make a point of too many students repeating classes.
If so well said.