Alumni Update

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the campus community and I wish we could continue our current quarter-based academic calendar indefinitely, that is unlikely to happen. At the same time, I have every confidence that our faculty, staff, and students will work together over the next six to eight years to do what we at Cal Poly have always done when presented with a challenge: We will innovate and find a uniquely Cal Poly solution, one that stays true to our bedrock principles, preserves the best of who we are, and ensures that Cal Poly will continue to thrive as a beacon of excellence throughout California and the country.

Here is the background: It has long been a desire of the CSU for all 23 campuses to be on a common calendar. Currently, only Cal Poly and five others are on quarters. There are several reasons the CSU desires a common calendar, which CSU Chancellor Timothy White and I have explored in several conversations. Chancellor White will shortly confirm whether he expects the six quarter-based campuses to convert within the next ten years. This timeline means no current Cal Poly students would be affected, and it will afford us ample opportunity to ensure that Learn by Doing not only survives but thrives, regardless of the calendar.

After sharing this development with students, faculty, and staff, as well as with some parents last week, I heard directly from about three dozen individuals who wanted to know more about my discussions with Chancellor White and his reasoning.

A task force that I appointed last fall to investigate this issue recommended that Cal Poly remain on quarters. I delivered that report along with my strong endorsement of the recommendation to Chancellor White last month. The Semester Review Task Force report can be read here.

Chancellor White understandably has to be concerned about the whole CSU system. A driving force behind the CSU's desire for a common semester calendar is SB 1440, legislation that mandates a smoother flow of community college students transferring to the CSU. As it happens, more than half of all students in the CSU system transfer from California community colleges, and all but three of the 112 community colleges are on semesters. Too frequently, students who transfer to quarter-based CSU campuses lose time in progress to degree or have other difficulties in transferring because of the calendar mismatch.

A number of people expressed their view that Chancellor White should respect Cal Poly's desire to remain on quarters. I have no doubt that Chancellor White gave great consideration to the campus' views. In my conversations with him, it was clear to me that he understood our position and had read our task force report closely. With that in mind, he struck a compromise by giving us ample lead time to convert and plan in order to preserve the best of Cal Poly. Also, the CSU is committing to pay 75 percent of the reasonable costs associated with converting.

While many believe that a quarter-based calendar is superior to a semester calendar, it is also true, as our Semester Review Task Force discovered, there is no hard data to support the argument that one is superior to the other. Currently, about three-fourths of American universities are on semester systems. The trend over the last two decades has been away from quarters and to semesters, so the idea of semesters is not radical.

Why does our campus like quarters? The Semester Review Task Force surveyed hundreds of alumni and thousands of current students about what they perceived to be the most significant advantages of the quarter system. The most frequently cited positives: the fast pace and wide variety of classes. In converting to a new calendar system, we will need to preserve these features. By taking a creative approach to a new calendar, we can, for example, explore ways of having multiple topical units within a single semester to offer a wide variety of courses. I firmly believe that the calendar need not prevent us from sustaining an appropriate variety of courses befitting our tradition as a comprehensive polytechnic university, nor should we forego the fast pace that is a proud Cal Poly hallmark.

Our faculty and staff are talented and innovative, and they are so committed to our students' success that I know we can make a seamless transition. It's important, though, that we have your full support.

Because of your example, Cal Poly has a sterling reputation for producing graduates ready to hit the ground running on their first day of work. That is as true today as it has been for decades and, with your continued support, it will be true on any calendar system for decades to come.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey D. Armstrong
President

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Please send questions or comments to: calpolypresident@calpoly.edu