The semester system goes into effect 436 days from now, August 24, 2026. 62 weeks away; that’s 4 registration periods from now. Advisors in academic advising centers are currently working on semester conversion curriculum changes and new flowcharts for students to use and will be available for use starting this summer, according to Kiku Severson, the college of agriculture, food and environmental sciences (CAFES) academic advising center’s administrative support coordinator.
Cal Poly is the last campus on the quarter calendar in the Cal State system, which is fueling this change, according to Provost Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore. Cal Poly also plans to increase enrollment and operate year round, which will be implemented in the 2028-2029 academic school year.
The semester system will begin about a month earlier in August than Cal Poly’s fall quarter start date in September. Each semester will contain a 15-week academic period.
A handful of advising centers are in the process of working on their final tools to assist students during the transition period. While a portion of the advising colleges have had their conversion documents released, others are still going through the approval process with an outside semester conversion consulting firm.
Some have already released websites that include semester-conversion-specific advising sessions, quarter-to-semester credit conversion sheets, new flowcharts and more. Out of the six colleges on Cal Poly’s campus, two of them — College of Liberal Arts (CLA) and College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) — have their quarter-to-semester conversion websites up.
According to Rachel Fernflores, the director and project manager of the semester conversion team, university administration has been providing support to college advisors on developing resources that students can access to prepare for the semester conversion.
Incoming freshmen will have one year on the quarter system before their academic journey switches.
“We have created quarter-semester program comparisons for [college’s advising centers], we are currently working on transitional flowcharts and 4-year flowcharts of each of the undergraduate programs, and advising centers have each been supported with the resources they need to hire additional advisors for the conversion,” Fernflores said.
More resources will be available to students regarding the conversion over the summer with a big push to try and make everything available during fall quarter, according to Sabrina Canady, CLA lead academic advisor.
Student concerns highlight need for academic advising
Amongst the many changes that students will be facing at the start of the semester conversion, students are nervous that with these new implementations, their regular quarter-quarter routine will cease to exist.
“I am fearful about being able to register for the classes I need,” Ruby Connors, an English freshman, said. “It is already difficult to get classes I need and having three chances for classes per year makes me feel more assured that I will get everything done that I need to.”
Students, like Connors, are nervous that their expected graduation dates will change due to the conversion and quarter units not matching all the way up to semester units.
“I want to know how this will affect the credits I have and if it will change my expected graduation date,” Connors said. “I’m also curious if this will affect the fact that I am currently trying to switch my major so I know that planning my courses ahead of time is important.”
These concerns come as Cal Poly is just an academic year away from transitioning to the semester system.
“Having been on [the quarter system] for the first 3 years of my time here at Cal Poly, I think the quarter system allows for more time to take more interesting classes outside of the required GE and Major courses,” Ian Cough, business sophomore, said. “Especially here at Cal Poly where there are so many fun and interesting classes offered, it definitely makes it harder for students to get the most out of their experience here.”
The unit calculation is one of the most confusing things about the conversion, according to Canady. But, she says that academic advising centers have contingency plans in place for students who need a couple more credits in order to graduate on time that won’t negatively impact the student.
