THE
LUMBERJACK Serving the Humboldt State University campus and community since 1929
Vol. 101 No. 4
SEE INSIDE FOR... California budget leads to impacted programs CSU campuses struggle with financial cuts while incoming students are faced with new requirements NEWS p 4
Get your march on Axe major Megan McFarland leads the Marching Lumberjacks in both political movements and band formations.
SPORTS p 12
Students with too many units may find themselves ineligible for financial aid next year. The California State University Board of Trustees reduced the unit cap for state university grant money from 180 semester units to 150. The change will take effect in the 20132014 academic year, and will apply to both new and current students. Students who use financial aid will be affected based on their major. Peggy Metzger, an associate director of financial aid at Humboldt State, said some majors have a much higher unit requirement than others. The higher the requirement, the less room a student has to take elective courses. “A bachelor’s degree in environmental resources engineering takes a minimum of 138 units, which is barely below the cap,” Metzger said. The low unit cap will force some students to railroad their schedule to finish requirements. A student might drop all of their elective courses just to finish below the cap, Metzger said, and when students take too many courses for fun and do not take
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Child development faces growing pains by Lisette Saldana
Over the last four years, the number of students in the child development major has grown from 90 to 200, and yet the department still has eight professors, five who teach classes, and the number of tenured faculty remains at three. With courses tailored to fit each student and observation-based courses, professor Claire Knox, along with other members of the child development faculty, create a sense of community among the students in the major. “We are committed to a certain kind of education,” Knox said. Knox and department Chair Nancy Hurlbut feel the increased number of students is a mixed blessing. Both professors are excited by the enrollment increases, but fear if the number continues to grow and staff size stays the same they will lose the one-on-one connection with students. “We haven’t changed the way we advise,” Hurlbut said. “The biggest issue is getting recursive feedback to students.” While most majors start out with a large freshman class size that decreases as it reaches upper-division courses, - the child development classes start with few freshman enrolled, but class sizes increase in
the upper-division courses as the program receives many transfer students. This makes it difficult for Hurlbut to gauge where the number of students in the major will be within the next few years. Senior Kimiko McNeill, a child development major with an emphasis in psychology, noticed the growth of students in classes and feels that though the professors make themselves available outside of class, the teaching dynamic in the classroom is not the same. McNeill finds that the large number of students in her classes make discussions difficult and is disappointed in the number of classes that are now offered online. “I don’t feel any less supported by the staff,” McNeill said. But she believes general education courses required for the child development major should be offered online and not the ones that correlate to her emphasis, which is psychology. Hurlbut, who has been department chair for 10 years, is overwhelmed by her current online class which has 49 participants. “[We] can’t do what we used to be able to for students,” Hurlbut said. Senior Lauren Marcus, a 23-yearold with an emphasis in education, came to HSU in 2007 but returned home to San Jose for personal reasons. While at home Marcus attended San Jose State. In 2011, she returned to HSU to complete her degree in child
Unit cap decreases for fall 2013 by Kevin Forestieri
www.thelumberjack.org
advantage of courses that fulfill multiple requirements, they risk putting themselves past the unit cap. Because majors can take up to 138 units to f i n i s h , transfer
students may struggle with the change. Metzger said that because many transfer students finish general education requirements at a community college and begin their major requirements after they transfer, the reduced cap would make it very difficult for these students to finish their major without losing financial aid. The lower financial aid
cap emphasizes the need for students to plan ahead, and map schedules out well in advance. Dana Deason, the interim director of the advising office at HSU, said if students plan ahead and pick their courses in advance, then the restriction of financial aid will not take precedent over the goals of the student. “With thoughtful planning, and contacting advisors, most students can graduate within 150 units,” Deason said. The unit cap reduction is part of a much larger school budget problem. Metzger said the board of trustees makes decisions to help as many students as possible with few resources. A reduced cap may push super seniors to get their degree and allow new students to use the financial aid money. Deason also said the Board of Trustees makes changes to help as many students as possible. “Financial aid money has never been an unlimited resource,” Deason said, “ Especially now.”
Child Development major Bonnie Rutherford stands in front of children’s art at Humboldt State’s Child Development Center. | Kira Keleher
development. Marcus compared her smallest class of 65 from San Jose to HSU’s largest class of 42. Though she has noticed the growth within the major at HSU from 2009 to present, she does not feel less supported by faculty. She is, however, disappointed in the higher number of core classes for her major that are online. “[With] online classes a lot of discussion can be personal,” Marcus said. “[It can] be difficult to grasp personal things through a computer
screen.” Senior Alana Gross, 22, who is also in the psychology track of child development, hopes the future of the child development major does not mainstream to online courses. “One of the strongest things about child development is our communication with each other,” Gross said. “It’s not the same as person to person contact.” Lisette Saldana may be contacted at thejack@humboldt.edu
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Graphic by Maddy Rueda Kevin Forestieri may be contacted at thejack@humboldt.edu
Graphics by Zoe Berman