Conversion to Semesters? An Examination of Issues

Areas of Focus  Academic Considerations  Student Recruitment and Retention  Administrative Efficiency

Why did we change from semesters to quarters in 1967?

Why did we Switch?  The college-age population in the U.S. increased by more than 65 percent between 1960 and  The quarter system was viewed as a means to accommodate a greater number of students.  The quarter system was thought to fit larger numbers of class offerings into a calendar year, and seen as a way to move very large numbers of students through the higher education systems in this country.

CSULA Headcount by Year

 We are no longer experiencing the enrollment demands of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.  Tidal Wave 2 never really materialized.

Is the calendar that we are currently on serving the best interests of our students today as well as those of the future?

Academic Considerations  Conversion will provide the University with a unique opportunity to re-examine and redefine its curricula in a comprehensive manner to meet future educational and market needs.  The simultaneous revision of the curricula across the departments and colleges provides us with a unique opportunity for integrating a redesigned curriculum that reflects emerging best practices.

Student Recruitment and Retention  A semester calendar will allow underprepared students greater time to adjust to the rigors of university academic life. Since over 70% of our first-time freshmen require remediation, this will provide adequate time for adjustment.  The semester system provides greater opportunities for collaborative research and for in-depth teaching and classroom projects.

Student Recruitment and Retention  Because most CSU and community colleges already follow the semester system, conversion would improve program articulation, as well as enable cross-institution courses and materials and comprehensive student interfaces.  Conversion will ease the transfer of students into and out of Cal State L.A. programs from other institutions, most of which already follow the semester system.

Administrative Efficiency  The semester system improves administrative efficiency, resulting in cost savings in certain functional areas, e.g., admissions, registration, and financial aid. For instance, financial-aid fund disbursements would occur on a biannual basis in the semester system versus four times per year in the quarter system.  Planning, ordering books, and other “gearing up;” evaluating; grading; paperwork; and getting to know new groups of students all take place two rather than three times per year.

Administrative Efficiency  All Federal and State Financial Aid programs are set up for semesters, not quarters.  Chancellor’s Office Reporting is designed primarily for semester campuses.  CMS is geared toward semester campuses.  Moving to semester would allow us more time to install new technology and do other campus renovations.  Moving to semesters would better align our workload with the funding that we are receiving.

Some other considerations…  Conversion will provide graduating students with a “first-mover” advantage when entering the job market. Most large employers schedule recruitment of new hires according to the semester calendar. Currently, Cal State L.A. graduates enter the post-graduation job market much later than regional peers because of their late graduation date.  A semester calendar will facilitate study-abroad options, student teaching, and other forms of experiential learning.

Some other considerations…  A semester calendar allows students greater flexibility in regard to dropping/adding or otherwise switching classes because of the extended length of semesters versus quarters.  Sabbaticals for a full semester would be fully funded, thus enabling a leave, including summer, of approximately 8 months with full pay. (Under quarters, still including summer, faculty members can receive 9 months off by choosing two quarters off at 75 percent pay, but can receive full pay for 6 months maximum.)  The greater number of weeks provides more opportunity for research, rewritten papers, field work, service learning, more multi-stage assignments or lab experiments, and so on.

Some other considerations…  Advisement, including applications for graduation and counseling new students, takes place one fewer time per year.  There is a greater likelihood of teaching-load reduction from the current load for tenure-track faculty on semesters rather than quarters. This results, for example, from our ability to increase class size by teaching two sections per year of a course rather than three, the ability to create courses with varying numbers of units, and other methods.