Report of the Semester Conversion Task Force - California State ...

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Semester Conversion Task Force ReportCONV-7CONV-8CONV-9First year. Upon completion of the mandatory orientation program, students identifiedas most at risk participate in three mandatory advising sessions during the firstsemester. Also, all students be required to meet with advisors for General Education(G.E.) advisement and an overview of University requirements during their first year.Encourage students who expect to begin major courses during their first year to meetwith a major advisor.Second year through graduation. For students engaged in their majors, a casemanagement approach to advisement in which departmental faculty advisors followa cohort of advisees until graduation. Advisors must be trained in and be knowledgeableabout developmental advisement, transportation, financial aid, employment, housing,family issues, childcare, etc.Development of an online advisement and degree audit system for real time tracking ofProgram Plans/Roadmaps to Graduation. The system should be easily used by bothstudents and personnel in all areas of the University including Admissions, FinancialAid, the Registrar’s Office and the Advisement Center. The system should allowadvisors and students to easily and intuitively monitor student developmental plans.It should provide an early warning system for students in danger of failing to meetacademic obligations. It should trigger attendance in academic success workshopsfor students who are lagging in their timeline to graduation. It should provide specialguidance for transfer students.Balancing student workload and time to degree completionTable 5 shows student workload and time to degree completion under various scenarios. The tablefocuses on rows A, C, D, and E of Table 1. Row A is the current CSULA quarter system. Rows C, D, andE presume courses of 3 semester-units each, i.e., they are semester compatible.The column showing Total hours/week assumes that students spend two hours outside the classroomfor each instructional hour. Full time effort is often defined as 40-45 hours/week.The first group of four rows shows the effort required for degree completion in 4 years or fewer. Thesecond group of four rows shows the effort required for degree completion in 5 years or fewer. Thissecond scenario assumes a somewhat lighter academic workload—a more common situation at CSULAwhere students tend to have heavier outside commitments. The third and fourth groups of four rowsassume even lighter workloads.An important area of advisement concerns the possibility that conversion to 14 or 15 week semestersmay extend time to degree completion. Since the CSULA 6-year graduation rate (30.6% ) is currentlyquite low in the CSU, this is a serious concern. Consider students who under the current system ormallytake 4 courses each quarter and expect to complete the degree in four years. (This is row A in the first7WASC (2008) Handbook of Accreditation,http://www.wascsenior.org/findit/files/forms/Handbook_of_Accreditation_2008_with_hyperlinks.pdf.8College Results Online: http://www.collegeresults.org/. When accessed, the most recent figures were for 2008.17
Semester Conversion Task Force Reportblock.) If after conversion these students still wish to complete the degree in four years, they will berequired to increase their courseload from 4 to 5 simultaneous classes. An alternative for such studentsis to move to row C or D in the second block. This keeps their workload at 4 simultaneous courses—andit reduces their total time commitment—but extends their time to degree completion to five years.Or consider students who, under the current system, would normally take 3 courses each quarter andwould expect to complete the degree in five years. (This is row A in the second block.) After conversion,these students would have to increase their workloads from 3 to 4 simultaneous courses to complete thedegree in 5 years. An alternative is to move to row C or D in the third block. This keeps their workload at3 simultaneous courses—and it reduces their total time commitment—but extends their time to degreecompletion to seven years.Although not recommended by the Task Force, ten week semesters (row E in the various blocks) offerpotentially attractive options for both groups of students. Switching from row A to row E in the first blockwould keep the number of simultaneous courses at 4, and it would reduce time to degree completionfrom 4 years to 3.33 years. But because each course demands more time per week, achieving thisreduction would require a commitment of 54 hours per week.Switching from row A in the first block to row E in the second block reduces the workload from 4 to3 simultaneous courses, and it reduces the total time commitment. Time to degree completion isextended, but only by one 10-week term plus one additional course.Switching from row A in the second, third, or fourth block to row E in the same block leaves the courseworkload unchanged, with an approximate 11% decrease in time to degree completion but with acomparable increase in time commitment.Table 5. Student workload and time to degree completion for entering freshmenTerm Weeks Terms Units intype in term in year in termInstruct. Total Simul- Years tohours per hours per taneous degreeweek week courses compl.A Quarter 10 3 15 15 45 4 4C Semester 15 2 15 15 45 5 4D Semester 14 2 15 16 48 5 4E Semester 10 3 12 18 54 4 3.33A Quarter 10 3 12 12 36 3 5C Semester 15 2 12 12 36 4 5D Semester 14 2 12 13 39 4 5E Semester 10 3 9 13.5 40.5 3 4.44A Quarter 10 3 8 8 24 2 7.67C Semester 15 2 9 9 27 3 7D Semester 14 2 9 10 30 3 7E Semester 10 3 6 9 27 2 6.6718
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