It took one year of research, 23 task force members, a 685-page report and a vote from 7,250 students to realize Cal Poly would do well to stay on quarters. Call it overkill, but no one will say it wasn’t thorough.
And it shouldn’t have been for nothing.
Cal Poly learned Monday about plans to move the campus from quarters to semesters by the end of the decade. Though it was University President Jeffrey Armstrong who told students, faculty and staff of the plans, the proposal itself appears to have come straight from the office of the California State University (CSU) Chancellor, Timothy White.
“Chancellor Tim White is moving down a pathway toward a decision that all quarter campuses would convert to semesters on a phase-in basis,” Armstrong told Mustang Daily. “And this would mean Cal Poly, we would convert as well.”
Though Armstrong faced criticism for how he went about reviewing semesters, he did eventually recommend White leave all quarter campuses untouched. Monday’s decision, Armstrong said, was a “compromise” between Cal Poly and the CSU: The campus will switch to semesters, but be the last campus to do so.
In a letter Armstrong wrote to White during early February, he introduced the Semester Review Task Force’s extensive work completed in fall quarter as reason to stay on quarters. Among other arguments for quarters, Armstrong cited task force-estimated costs of more than $20 million and the loss of priceless opportunities for the university as it shifts resources to focus on switching to semesters. The president even admitted the Semester Review Task Force shook his own preconceived idea that semesters are generally a better system.
“Cal Poly has been through a careful and (in-depth) process concerning the subject of converting to semesters or staying on quarters,” Armstrong wrote to the chancellor. “My position is to support the thoughtful and overwhelming recommendation of Cal Poly stakeholders to stay on quarters.”
It’s understandable that White wants all schools on a common calendar. After all, the university system is attempting to trim administrative costs as it turns the corner from hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts during the past four years.
But spending millions of dollars more to convert campuses to semesters is not the answer to the CSU’s problems. And while Armstrong claims the benefits of having all schools on the same calendar outweigh the losses Cal Poly will face, there is no available report by the CSU outlining exactly what these benefits are.
Not only this, but the CSU has agreed to pay approximately three-quarters of conversion costs. With tuition high and stagnant faculty pay still in effect, where will the university system find money to finance this? Armstrong said he doesn’t know, and the CSU won’t comment on semester conversion until plans are further along in the chancellor’s office.
So for now, Cal Poly is left with multiple questions after a wide consensus of the Cal Poly community demonstrated a pro-quarters stance. There appears to be little that can be done, with Armstrong resigned to White’s compromise and the system moving closer and closer to semesters.
But that system is running in a different direction than what the campus wants. And while Cal Poly is part of the system, it shouldn’t be married to it. If quarters are what have worked for Cal Poly, why not stick with it?
President Armstrong is not to be trusted. From the day he took over at Cal Poly, he’s had a move to semesters in mind. The best evidence? Before the task force began its study, he hand picked and hired a provost specifically experienced at converting from quarters to semesters. He’s also stated publicly on multiple occasions that he prefers semesters.
When people read comments like, “my position is to support the thoughtful and overwhelming recommendation of Cal Poly stakeholders to stay on quarters”, they should realize they’re hearing from a clever politician trying to appease by saying the right thing. This guy is not about making Cal Poly better. He’s about dumbing down the school so it fits in comfortably with CSU academic giants such as Cal State LA, Dominguez Hills and East Bay.
Note to President Armstrong: There’s nothing wrong with being the best of the best and taking on the UCs. You don’t have to fall in line with the politically-correct thinkers at CSU headquarters. A mindset that believes a CSU school’s mission is to play second fiddle to UCs just to accommodate social engineering philosophy.
This new president CLEARLY has an agenda. There’s no way that someone who hires a study and then blatently ignores what the student body, alumni and the community wants cannot have one. He just wants to go to semesters which is stupid! The big pull of Poly IS that it is on QUARTERS.
I also have to see him yet to address what they are going to do to help people graduate on time? Because it’s already extremely common to have most seniors graduating in 6 or even 7 years instead of 4 due to class cutting from budget cuts, increased numbers of students while decreased teachers are allowed to teach the classes, and then the scheduling conflicts.
How are they planning to fix this? Because switching to semesters is only going to make it worse not better! What they need to do is hire more teachers and stop coming up with hare brained plots such as this one. How much money and effort has already been wasted on this?
This president is terrible and I really wish they would stop getting out of state people as president here. They have absolutely no business running a school that they haven’t been part of, and have no idea about. He doesn’t live here so why does he get to change everything like this?
He obviously does not care at all what the students, the community or the alumni think.
This is all just some bigger political move to win favors with other parties.
Anyone who did not graduate from our school should not be President of Cal Poly – SLO, period!
Maybe everyone on campus should just stop talking to the Armstrong, let him feel our disgust.
Why fix something that isn’t broken??? I don’t get why the CSU wants to put all this money into something that isn’t necessary. Cal Poly has stood out because the quarter system allows for a more well rounded education. It allows students to take more classes and build on an already great education. This just blows my mind that they want to do this to a great institution.