Aryn Sanderson
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For the first time ever, this fall, California State University (CSU) students will be able to take online classes offered at other Cal State campuses.
Under this program, for example, a student at one CSU campus could enroll in an online course technically offered by another CSU campus.
However, for Cal Poly students in particular, there is a catch.
While there are 36 entirely-online courses offered this fall, there are only five courses offered that Cal Poly students are able to take. This is because CSU students will be limited to taking quarter-concurrent classes if they’re on a quarter-system campus and semester-concurrent classes if they’re on a semester-based campus.
Since Cal Poly students will only be able to take online classes offered at other quarter-based CSU campuses, the options are limited. While there are 23 CSU campuses, only five others are on the quarter system.
This fall, Cal Poly students will be able to take five quarter-based classes. The classes will be offered by Cal Poly, Pomona, CSU Bakersfield and CSU East Bay with topics ranging from Life Science to History of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
“There are bigger implications for them at some CSU schools than others,” Associated Students, Inc. President Jason Colombini said. “As Cal Poly students, because of our emphasis on Learn By Doing, I think it’s important that we don’t lose that hands-on element, and, as this is becoming more popular, to understand that online classes aren’t for everyone. But, if it helps students get out in four years because they have that one bottleneck course, then if it helps, it helps. The goal ultimately is to help students learn and graduate on time.”
Officials hope that offering hard-to-get classes online across-the-board for CSU students will help students graduate faster.
“We as a system have been ahead of most public universities when it comes to looking at how online technology can address education needs,” CSU media relations manager Erik Fallis said. “Campuses for a while have been offering online classes. What we’re doing unique this year is concurrent enrollment.”
The main goal is to avoid the dreaded “bottleneck” affect.
“Bottleneck, in the broadest sense, is the idea that a few classes are holding students up from timely graduation,” Fallis said. “Years of budget cuts have restricted the access to classes for some students.”
An improved budget environment has enabled the CSU system to begin addressing this problem and will “help to combat the legacy of budget cuts from before,” Fallis said.
Recreation, parks and tourism administration senior Rebecca Roberts said that while online courses don’t offer the same amount of student engagement, this is a step in the right direction for those who “are behind with units, need to re-take a course to catch up, or who just want to take a class for fun,” she said.
The classes are not going to be so-called MOOCs, massive open online courses that often attract up to thousands of students. Instead, each course will be limited in class size, and most will be capped at a traditional size.
“We’re using proven formats that we’ve used in the past,” Fallis said. “These classes have all been offered online before on their campuses and have been shown to be successful. All we’re doing is opening it to students in the CSU system not on their campus. There is still a limit to the class size so that faculty are able to provide feedback and the type of guidance that’s necessary for students to be successful.”
Open enrollment for Cal Poly begins Aug. 19, however, the CSU recommends consulting with an academic advisor before registering concurrently.