By Luz Hernandez |Staff Writer|
In a recent press conference held Feb. 6 in Long Beach, the California State University system introduced incoming Chancellor Timothy P. White as he discussed issues and proposed solutions that affect the CSU community.
At the conference, White revealed how he intends to use proposed budget money on new technology that will lead students effectively through problematic courses across all 23 CSU campuses.
The budget money was proposed by Governor Jerry Brown after Californians voted yes on Proposition 30.
White said he plans to use the million dollar investment on online education which will help get rid of what he called “bottleneck” courses.
His plan will begin by utilizing technology to redesign courses with a high failure rate.
He thinks this idea will ultimately help students pass their courses and lead them to a timelier graduation date.
White believes that the redesign will be a more effective way to help students rather than adding more courses to the approximate 13,000 online courses that already exist.
CSUSB student Angel Beltran agreed with White. “Redesigning courses is a lot more beneficial than opening more because it would cost more money to open more rather than restructuring the class plan, that way less students would have to retake a class and it would be open to more students the following quarter.” said Beltran.
Graduation gaps from students with less privileged backgrounds are another problem that he plans to tackle.
He believes that anyone who has the intelligence to earn a degree and the willingness to do so should be able to acquire it.
“There is no reason why your background should get in the way of your getting a degree,” said White.
Another important change that he would like to bring to the CSU campuses is the conversion of the quarter system to the semester system.
He went on to say that in the past, the semester system has proved to be more of a success.
White claims that it allows students to learn better, rather than just throwing a student into courses which is what he says the quarter system does.
White also believes that the semester system will be less of a financial burden on students.
The quarter system requires students to make payments per quarter, whereas the semester system requires students to make a payment twice a year.
These are both excluding possible summer courses which are not a part of regular enrollment.
White believes it is more beneficial to have a semester system set for students who are coming in from a community college which is ran on semesters.
“It just makes sense to me,” stated White.
In 2008 he served as chancellor of UC Riverside where he saw student enrollment increase to 21,000.
White, who is the seventh CSU chancellor, plans to stay connected to students. His goal is to reach out to students by visiting all 23 CSU campuses and speaking to students regarding any goals and concerns.
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