By Teresa Acosta, Oct. 1, 2024
New California State University general education pattern changes and cuts made to Areas C and E in response to Assembly Bill No. 928 were announced at a town hall meeting Sept. 12.
Also known as the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act of 2021, AB 928’s goal is to strengthen the pathway for transferring students into the California State University and University of California systems. If approved, the changes and cuts will go into effect in fall 2025.
In addition to removing these requirements they will be relabeled to align with other colleges and any two-unit labs will be reduced to one-unit.
Aaron DeRosa, the interim faculty director of undergraduate studies and GE, explained the changes have been developed over a three-year period and would allow classes to be transferred over in a faster and more direct manner.
“When you transfer in with an ADT (Associate Degree for Transfer), you’re guaranteed a degree in 60 units,” DeRosa said. “Most transfer students will already have satisfied 60 units of their degree, including those five lower-division units that have been removed from GE.”
The five units being removed as requirements are all lower division units and should not impact the 60 units transfer students bring with them to Cal Poly Pomona, DeRosa said. However, the impact on first-time freshmen, specifically the loss of a well-rounded college education, a sentiment echoed by multiple professors.
The Academic Senate has a GE referral which was submitted for consideration and faculty will vote on it this semester, before Dec. 20 when the curriculum edits are due, according to the town hall summary. But ultimately, the president has the final word over what will be enacted, according to DeRosa.
In addition to removing these requirements, they will be relabeled to align with other colleges and any two-unit labs will be reduced to one unit.
Aaron DeRosa, the interim faculty director of undergraduate studies and GE, explained the changes have been developed over a three-year period and would allow classes to be transferred over in a faster and more direct manner.
“When you transfer in with an ADT (Associate Degree for Transfer), you’re guaranteed a degree in 60 units,” DeRosa said. “Most transfer students will already have satisfied 60 units of their degree, including those five lower-division units that have been removed from GE.”
The five units being removed as requirements are all lower division units and should not impact the 60 units transfer students bring with them to Cal Poly Pomona, DeRosa said. However, the impact on first-time freshmen, specifically the loss of a well-rounded college education, a sentiment echoed by multiple professors.
The Academic Senate has a GE referral which was submitted for consideration, and faculty will vote on it this semester before Dec. 20, when the curriculum edits are due, according to the town hall summary. But ultimately, the president has the final word over what will be enacted, according to DeRosa.
The changes being proposed are a result of the new law but not specifically required by it. Psychology professor Nicholas Von Glahn hypothesized how the university could have honored the new law without changing the GE pattern.
“We’ll create that track for (transfer students) and we’ll honor it, so if you come in with that completed, we’ll say your GEs are done,” Von Glahn said. “But if you didn’t complete that whole set or if you come in as a first-time freshman, we could have still had the GE pattern we had.”
Von Glahn said the chancellor’s office believes this route would have caused too much confusion among students. He added this belief is an insult to the advising staff, faculty and students and their ability to navigate the different patterns.
The exposure students get from classes in Area D and E was also something Von Glahn said was fundamental to the transformative nature of a college education.
Associate professor of ethnomusicology Jesse Vallejo has been a part of the senate discussions over the last couple of years. She is concerned these changes will defund and cause instability to the social science, humanities and lifelong learning programs.
In addition to these cuts, there have been nine units from Area C that have been cut since Vallejo began working at CPP in the fall of 2015.
“Students won’t have those opportunities for those types of career exploration classes that I think are essential in terms of helping them get started,” Vallejo said.
CPP’s Academic Senate has authored a resolution in opposition to the reduction of Area C in the CSU lower-division general education plan. In the document, the Academic Senate is concerned that reducing the number of courses in Area C from three to two will:
•Deprive students of vital opportunities to develop the foundational skills trained in the arts, humanities and social sciences
•Continue the devaluation of arts, humanities and social sciences
•Negatively impact students’ readiness for future careers and civic participation.
The next Academic Senate meeting will be held Oct. 16.
Feature Image Courtesy of Academic Senate Executive Committee