Thousands of students registering for Cal Poly classes next fall will see first-hand a new result of California’s budget woes: a 16-unit registration cap.
A California State University (CSU) memo issued in early March will standardize a unit cap for all schools in the system, regardless of their respective financial situations. The mandate was prompted by the struggling California budget and the uncertainty of how it will affect state universities’ finances next year.
“I don’t see any positive for Cal Poly in having this cap,” Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong said. “This cap is there because of the state budget trials. That will save money. It’s going to mean some students don’t take some classes because of the looming $12 million cut we have. So what the CSU is saying is, ‘We have to implement some steps now.’”
But early estimates predict the measure will impact only a small amount of students out of the university’s total population. This is due to several exemptions Cal Poly chose to enact for its students after approval by the CSU, Chancellor’s Office Spokesperson Liz Chapin said.
Students who are considered to be seniors by the university, or those who have completed at least 135 units, are exempt from the unit cap, associate vice provost Kimi Ikeda said. Additionally, Ikeda said students in majors that require science or language classes, or more than 180 units to graduate, can surpass the 16-unit cap.
“We’re trying not to negatively impact students’ progress to degrees or their plans,” Ikeda said.
After running evaluations of students’ classes this quarter and examining how they would be impacted by the unit cap, the vice provost found that approximately 2,300 Cal Poly students, or 12 percent, would not fall under one of the exemptions.
Of those who would not meet the criteria of an exempt category, Ikeda’s estimates predict only 300 would try to register for more than 16 units. University administrators said they are happy this number is much smaller than the thousands of students who take more than 16 units.
“We can’t send the message that it’s not a big deal,” Armstrong said. “It may be a big deal. But it’s going to be a big deal for a limited number of students.”
There are no plans as of yet to determine how the unit cap will be enforced, Ikeda said. Since students traditionally are only able to register for up to 16 units during the initial enrollment cycle, she predicts no change will be made until open enrollment becomes available in the summer.
Provost Kathleen Enz Finken, who is in her first year at Cal Poly, said she too believes students will not notice a large change because of the exemptions allowed in the mandate. Still, Enz Finken said the unit cap will work better for other schools in the CSU system, but has the potential to hurt some students at Cal Poly.
“We just decided our best way to move forward is to do what we’ve been doing, which is to allow the students to enroll as they see fit,” Enz Finken said. “And then, if there are situations where a student who doesn’t meet those stated criteria wants to take additional credits, then we would have to look at those and consider whether there should be an exception.”
Armstrong echoed Enz Finken’s sentiments that setting a 16-unit cap is not ideal for Cal Poly. But because it comes directly from the CSU, the university has no choice but to follow the system-wide restriction.
“We did ask questions, and they said, ‘Sorry, this is the best we can do. This is a tough time,’” he said. “Again, plan for the worst, hope for the best.”
After discussions with the CSU, Armstrong said he felt comfortable the university would be able to reduce the negative effects on students.
Students who do not fall into one of the preapproved exemptions will be allowed to petition on a case-by-case basis to take more than 16 units, Enz Finken said. Though no system is in place to address these requests, the provost said more details will be determined as open enrollment approaches.
“Let’s just do business as usual, and when we see there’s a questions then we’ll address it,” she said. “So I think we’ll be fine.”
But don’t they get more money if we enroll in more classes?
Hope your not a math major : ).
You pay a fixed amount for each quarter. If you take more classes you still pay the same amount but the university has to hire more people to teach those extra classes, lights, cleaning etc. Etc. Or in this case they want to decrease resoucrces needed because few classes are offered.
Hope you’re not an English major 😛
Sorry, typed on an iPhone. Sloppy, but no excuse.
actually i’m out of state, so we don’t pay a fixed amount. we pay per unit. So if everyone paid this way, the school would be making more money if they allowed us to take more units. But i guess the unit cap makes more sense then budget wise since most people are in state and therefore pay a fixed amount.
Good to hear this doesn’t apply to the College of Engineering.
It applies to pretty much nobody
Don’t say it applies to nobody. It applies to me. I am honestly furious about this. Basically what they are telling me is that my major and my education are not as important which is completely incorrect. The classes I am taking are just as important as anyone else’s.
This is not saying that your major and your education is not as important. Engineers have to take more units to graduate, so if a cap is put on them, they’ll basically never graduate (seeing how long it already takes them). Science majors also don’t fall under this cap because a lot of their classes are 5 units. If they’re only able to take 3 classes per quarter, they’ll never progress.
I agree with “hello”. My major requires at least 196 units to graduate, and there are a few quarters that are suggested as 18 units on the flow chart. Given that many of these classes are only offered once per year, you pretty much have to exactly follow the flow chart if you want to graduate in 4 years. A 16 unit cap would obviously mess that up in multiple quarters.
Pretty silly and short sighted to think limiting the number of courses you can take per quarter will help you graduate faster. If concerned about professional students limit the total number of courses you can take, or have mandatory advising appointments to verify progress towards graduation in 4 years.
This is just getting ridiculous. I cannot tell you how happy I am to be graduating before all of this takes effect. Enjoy living in a world of increased government and decreased class availability Cal Poly.
President Armstrong I urge you to stop being pushed around on issues like unit caps, semesters, budget cuts, changing the name of the El Corral Bookstore, etc, etc, etc. We are Cal Poly. We are special. We are unique. We are the flagship for the entire CSU, please don’t let us become CSU Cuesta, just like the rest of the CSU system.
English majors have a foreign language requirement, so we’re cool. 😛
I agree with Warren’s second paragraph. I would also like to know which idiot authorized the painting of the new 2.5 million gallon water tank a maroon color. I’m told most of the students are unhappy with it. Which school colors are maroon? I had recommended that it be painted Cal Poly’s forest green color with a Cal Poly golden roof. It should also have a giant rearing Cal Poly spirit Mustang decal on the south side wall. This change should make everyone happy. I hope this can be accomplished.
Success fee Did What?????????????
LOL, touche Anon.
Anybody know specifically what majors this effects? It says excluded are 4 categories:
1. senior standing or 1135 units
2. majors requiring more than 180 units
3. majors requiring Science course
4. majors requiring modern language course
and then .. it effects 2000+ students.. what majors ARE those please..???
Anon, the word should be affects, not effects, which is used in other instances.