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WEDNESDAY Issue MAY 2, 2012 FRESNO STATE
COLLEGIAN.CSUFRESNO.EDU
SERVING CAMPUS SINCE 1922
Students seek financial assistance for summer Students who utilize financial aid during the school year find ways to sustain through the summer with campus resources By Taylor Gonzalez The Collegian More than half of the students at Fresno State take advantage of financial aid resources, but many must find an alternative income during the summer. Maria Hernandez has worked in the financial aid office for 32 years, serving as the director for the last 11. To students who are eligible, Hernandez is responsible for approving their financial assistance. “Annually, approximately 60 percent of the student body receives some form of financial aid,” Hernandez said. Hernandez said the applicants are a combination of students who rely solely on financial aid, and those who hold outside jobs. The select students who aren’t planning to take summer school courses won’t reap the financial aid benefits for the more than three-month period. “If the student is not enrolled during the summer, financial aid cannot be offered for that time period,” Hernandez said. Hernandez said it is important for students to keep in mind that available funding for summer is very limited. Lauren Hoekstra, a senior kinesiology student, has utilized the financial aid opportunities for the past four years. As a full-time student, she has maintained part-time jobs to make ends meet. “Financial aid has helped me immensely over the course of my college career,” Hoekstra said. “Without it, I would have struggled and might even possibly not have been able to attend a four-year university.” Hoekstra uses financial aid money for tuition and other expenses during the semester. When school breaks for
Ana Mendoza / Collegian File Photo
Fresno State students waited in line for financial aid last August. Approximately 60 percent of the student body receives some sort of financial aid in the form of grant, loan or work study. Students who use financial aid may need to find other means to cover expenses during the summer.
summer vacation, she’s forced to find other sources of income. “I will normally pick up a summer job alongside my per manent parttime job so that I can support myself,” Hoekstra said. Hoekstra has not only used financial aid resources, but also the resources offered by career services. She has been an active user of BulldogLink, a resource that has helped her to maintain a steady job within her major field of study. BulldogLink is a Web-based system
provided by career services where students can browse through job postings from on and off-campus employers. Director of career services Rita Bocchinfuso-Cohen has worked in the field for almost eight years. This department provides students with many resources, such as help deciding on a career path or major. They also do career testing, networking events and workshops in order to prepare students for job searches as well as connecting them with employers. Career services is an under-utilized
resource; only about one in four students go in for assistance. “From surveys that I’ve done in the past, it’s about 25 percent of the student population that uses our services,” Bocchinfuso-Cohen said. Bocchinfuso-Cohen said it would be ideal to have more students use the resources offered to them. With the competitiveness in hiring — for summer jobs especially — career services can help these students to maintain stability when they break from school and financial aid.
16-unit cap on fall enrollment has students scrambling By Stephen Keleher The Collegian Students are feeling the crunch after the CSU Chancellor’s Office announced in March that due to budget cuts, all 23 CSU’s would have to implement a unit cap on fall enrollment. “The Full Time Equivalent Student (FTES) calculation for CSU is 15 units,” said Erik Fallis, media relations specialist at the Chancellor’s Office. “This is what we have to base our limited budget on.” Fresno State has decided to set its cap at 16 units, one unit above the FTES and allowed by the Chancellor. State funding for education is based on the FTES formula, which is a legislative standard. As the CSU system has continued to suffer cuts in state funding, it has had to tighten enrollment rules to make sure that each student can make use of limited resources. Ryan Johnson, a junior construction management student, is a returning student after doing military service overseas. He’s on the GI bill, but still has to take out student loans to make up the difference. “I’m looking at probably what is being called a ‘super senior,’” Johnson said. “And probably having to go an extra semester next year.” Johnson will have to do an internship next year and said he wonders how the limits to enrollment will affect his program.
“I don’t think it’s fair for students,” Johnson said. “Sometimes they only offer one class for students in one semester. What if you’re only one class away from graduating? What if you’re a senior and you need 18 units? They’re not going to allow you to take that class?” Fresno State students have been limited to an initial enrollment maximum of 16 units for at least two years now
since 2010. However, until this registration period, the 16-unit cap was lifted after the early-registration period ends in August. Dean of undergraduate studies, Dennis Nef is looking over the possible exceptions to the 16-unit cap. “Under consideration is that we allow seniors who can prove they need to go above the cap in order to graduate in the fall,” Nef said. “And we are even
My Fresno State screenshot
Attempting to add more than 16 units in Fresno State’s “online student” center will see an error message preventing them from adding additional classes.
looking at recommending that seniors be allowed to go above the cap for both fall and spring if needed.” Nef is also considering letting certain high-unit majors receive waivers to the 16-unit cap. An example is engineering students like Johnson. The Dean will present his recommendations to Fresno State President John Welty, who will make a final decision sometime this summer. For first and second-year students, the cap may not be as critical as it could be for juniors and seniors. Sources in Joyal Administration point out, offthe-record, that a 16-unit cap may actually help freshmen to make it through that first difficult year. By reducing some lower-division general education classes it permits each freshman to more easily find space in the required classes. It also prevents freshmen from taking too many classes, which may be overwhelming to a student fresh to the university. But enrollment caps are only some of the problems that have come from the shrinking funds allotted for colleges in California. Lack of teachers and class cancellations left Spanish major Brenda Noriega short three classes, pushing her into “super senior” status: forced to go one extra semester in order to get the bachelor’s degree. “Because of the budget, they cut some of my g raduation classes,” Noriega said. “So I had to postpone my graduation for next year.”