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CSU Blues
Topics: college, CSUB
Posted by ssmoff3 Fri May 25, 2007 13:59:15 PDT
Viewed 466 times
0 responses 1 comment Location: 9001 Stockdale Highway, Bakersfield, CA 93311

Does anyone else share my pain? Can anyone else understand my frustrations? I am a fifth-year senior at CSUB limping toward my sixth year.

The end is very near but I am convinced there is a conspiracy against me keeping me from moving out of the lecture halls and into a career. Let me explain...

My most recent dilemma involves a fairly common problem for most students at CSUB: a complete lack of class availability.

You would think that with the ever-increasing tuition costs, more classes would be offered. That is a pretty elementary concept in economics: more money renders increased services. Well, that is simply not the case at CSUB. As one entertainer once proclaimed with great conviction, "Mo money, mo problems!" I need to complete only two more classes to graduate by December 2007 –– a Health Education class and an Earth Science class. These are required courses for every student in the Liberal Studies program (likely the largest program on campus), yet they are each offered at only one time during the coming fall quarter. And here's the kicker: They are offered at the EXACT SAME TIME! Unbelievable? On the contrary, this is fairly common.

I mentioned the ever-increasing tuition costs. When I began my college education in September of 2002, my tuition and other miscellaneous fees cost a grand total of approximately $2,700. Honestly, that is very inexpensive compared to most other universities in the state. However, the CSU system is excited to instate their latest tuition increase, which will bring the total cost to about $3,400 for the 2007-2008 school year. According to the CSUB Web site, there is an estimated total of 7,800 students on campus. Using these figures above, we can reasonably estimate that CSUB will receive nearly $5.5 million more in the 2007-2008 school year than it did when I began my education in 2002. Where is this additional money going? It seems (to me) that CSUB is offering fewer classes and fewer sections of each class as well.

Did I mention that a majority of CSU staff (not just CSU, Bakersfield but the entire CSU system) nearly went on strike in April of this year? Why? They are still in negotiations, demanding salary increases because they are also receiving the short end of the stick.

$5.5 million could help to fairly compensate current faculty members for their years of experience. $5.5 million could hire a lot of new professors. $5.5 million could increase the number of classes offered at CSUB by great leaps.

I will end on a positive note: As I mentioned, I am graduating in December of this year. In order to do so, I will be completing my Health Education requirement at Bakersfield College over my summer vacation. You might find it interesting that Bakersfield College is offering nearly 10 different sections of this course during the summer quarter. Assuming there are no other hiccups, I will complete my Earth Science requirement at CSUB in the fall and graduate in five years and one quarter with a 3.2 GPA overall.

Not too shabby –– God Bless!

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Comment From: lward

Great letter, thank you! Lauren