UPDATE (6:20 p.m.):
Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong and Associated Students, Inc. President Katie Morrow weighed in on White’s comments Wednesday evening, saying they are doubtful his remarks will change the semester conversation at Cal Poly.
“I agree with Chancellor White about semesters, although I should note that I have not yet had a substantive conversation with him about any Cal Poly issues,” Armstrong wrote in an email. “But as I’ve said many times since we began our review process, I personally believe semesters are better for students.
“But let’s not get ahead of our own process. I promised our campus that we would investigate this issue thoroughly. We’re in the midst of that process now, and it’s proving to be a very good process.”
Morrow said she was previously unaware of White’s view on semesters, but said ASI would continue its plan to bring students’ views to university administrators even if they are pro-quarter.
“That’s interesting,” she said. “I hope that that (the decision) is being made in consideration for the uniqueness of the campuses. That would be my biggest concern.”
Morrow added today’s student semester vote turnout is within “a couple percentage points” of breaking the previous student government record of 36.5 percent. Students set that record during the 2011 ASI officer elections.
UPDATE (5:21 p.m.):
Cal State spokesperson Erik Fallis said though White prefers semesters and believes they would be right for the system, there is no plan in place to bring all 23 campuses to semesters. White will discuss the issue with campus presidents during the coming months and work with faculty and students to make a decision, Fallis said.
ORIGINAL STORY
New California State University (CSU) Chancellor Timothy White said he plans to convert all CSU campuses to the semester system at a student press conference on Wednesday, though a definitive time span for the conversion was not mentioned.
“I will be working with the Academic Senate and with the faculty (at the six CSU schools on the quarter system) to move those campuses from the quarter to the semesters,” he said.
White, who began his term in office at the beginning of this year, said he has had experience with both quarters and semesters, and has come to prefer the latter because it is “a better learning environment for students.”
“When I was at Berkeley as a student, and then as a faculty member, we were semesters and went to quarters,” he said. “And then we went back to semesters because it was a better learning environment. … For me, it is about being student-centered and making sure we are offering our curriculum in a way that is optimal for students.”
The reasons White listed for converting all quarters campuses to semesters ranged from better alignment with community colleges to an improved workflow based on one standard schedule. White also said the system’s goal of implementing more technological improvements could be helped by converting these campuses.
“(Conversion) will make all of the Cal State on the same calendar, which will allow, especially with technology, that ability to use courses from San Luis picked up by somebody in San Diego,” he said. “It just makes sense to me.”
Six CSU campuses currently remain on the quarter systems (Cal Poly, Bakersfield, East Bay, Los Angeles, Pomona and San Bernardino). Of these, Cal Poly, Bakersfield and Los Angeles have all seriously looked into converting to semesters. No definite time span for the proposed conversion has been suggested, but White said he thinks the conversion will be relatively simple.
“It would be a bigger task if it was only one semester school and we had 22 to convert,” White said.
It is unclear how this information will affect the student advisory vote on semesters held today at Cal Poly.
Kaytlyn Leslie contributed to this staff report.