It is cool this morning and feels great! I welcome the crisp air that winter brings to San Marcos. As some are beginning to register classes I am reminded of our efforts to modify the current four day class schedule. Below is the text from an email that I sent to a University Star reporter for an article he is working on. This articulates our stance on the issue as ASG. Take care!

What the objective/s of the schedule change was/were

The legislation was meant to bring up the current state of operations at Texas State and how some factions of the university are negatively affected by the four day class schedule. We aren’t going to try and solve every problem individually, there are simply too many areas that are affected by the new class schedule. We chose to push this piece of legislation through to express our discontent with the problems and mainly our discontent that we have not been contacted to provide input on the success/failure of the new schedule. And of course, our underlying objective is to directly address the problem with freshman students leaving campus for three day weekends and the long term negative effects that presents.

What level of involvement the ASG had when they were shopping the idea around before enacting the new schedule. (I was told the ASG was pretty positive at that time, has that changed?- if so, for what reasons?)

As I was not in ASG the Spring semester of last year, I do not know the level of information they received. I remember that ASG was in favor of the unified class schedule (meaning shifting all classes to 75 minutes), however I feel that the four day structure was not addressed properly. If I am mistaken and it was, I do not think that the move was researched enough. As stated above, part of my frustration is that we were not contacted to be involved with the continuation of the four day schedule for the spring semester.

And then some questions about SRF 2007-2008/4- what does SRF stand for?

SRF stands for “Senate Resolution Fall”. All bills in the spring will read “SRS”. The numbers indicate the academic year and the number after the slash is the number of bill that it is in this session.

Is this meant the tweak the current schedule, or as a sign to return to the old?

We don’t expect to go back to MWF 50 minute classes and T/TH 75 minute classes. We just want there to be reasonable class offerings offered on Fridays. If students want to still schedule Fridays off, then they can, however there is a faction of students that would appreciate Friday offerings. More course offerings is always good for students. One side of the issue that I am resolute on, however, is that we should be keeping our new students here on Fridays for their core classes, period.

Construction will be completed at some time, why isn’t patience the order of the day?

Because with construction there is a plan that is being followed. It does not seem that there was a plan to properly address the unintended negative outcomes of the four day schedule. Patience can be implemented when there are measures taken to deal with the problems that we are facing as a result of the schedule. Right now it is our responsibility as student government to look to the future, not just the present.

Students can plan on delays when using the trams, better time management could solve getting places on time- patience again.

Regardless of what students may be able to do to accommodate the slowness of the trams, the issue is that they are inconvenienced. The tram system did not experience the overcrowding issues that it is right now last spring. We haven’t grown that much. Students depend on the trams, it is our job to make sure that we do everything possible to ensure that the trams are providing them with the efficient, safe and accessible transportation they pay for and deserve.

Is anything being done to increase the fleet of buses in the future?

If so, how is this going to happen under the current fee structure as suggested?- they do cost money, where would it come from?

Is ASG involved in coming up with solutions?

We will always be looking at ways to have more buses to better serve students. However, the fee was just increased and cannot be for a little while; there are other fees on campus that are waiting in line to be increased before buses are up again. Buses do cost money, this points back to my first point, we are not looking to solve every problem, we’re just saying what our concerns are and telling the administration, they have yet to hear from us. Yes, ASG does talk with John Root in Auxiliary Services and Paul Hamilton, they are quite accommodating and when the time for another fee increase in buses comes, ASG will hold a referendum.

Isn’t it paternalistic to structure available classes so that students are kept on campus?

Is it the job of the University to force the student to grow up, or is it the student’s responsibility to do so?

No it’s not paternalistic to structure classes to keep students on campus. It is what colleges of our caliber and direction do. I think all Bobcats are special, don’t get me wrong, but we aren’t so special that we shouldn’t have to go to classes just like everyone else at major universities does. You have to work 5 days a week after college, and we’re not wanting to have EVERONE go to class on Friday; we want the option available to those who want it and we want freshman to be here so that they can make a connection with the university. Scheduling classes is in no way forcing students to grow up, it is providing them with opportunities to grow up and if they don’t wan to take them, then that is just fine. However, as an institution, it is our job to be open, available and accessible to students at all times and with no students here on weekends, that job becomes hard to do and in many accumulating cases on campus, not an option.

With the break up of core classes, wouldn’t that just create a super Wednesday where all of the problems addressed will be more pronounced?

No, because Friday would take stress off of the rest of the week. Once again, we are looking to offer more sections period, to allow flexibility for students. We don’t expect our legislation to be the super answer, however, any stress off of the rest of the week because of Fridays will be a great achievement. This is a process, I believe in the patience you are talking about in earlier questions, but we have to act now and get things rolling, there needs to be a plan of action.

What’s wrong with the perception of a “commuter campus”?- commuting is typically a non traditional student thing- is it not good to be perceived as an institution that can work with students of this type?

We are already perceived as a commuter campus that is friendly to non-traditional students. We are not viewed as a residential campus where people move to our community and stay here to go to school. We are trying to move forward at Texas State, not stop and sit down where we are. If we want to continually be achieving national recognition as one of the top three schools in the state, we have to appeal to the large numbers of graduating high school students each year. We do not want to be a school that people come to and leave, we want to be a home, a place where people are connected to, a fond memory and a large part of people’s lives. We cannot do that if we are a ghost town half of the week.

Bottom Line

I have said this before and I’ll say it again: We as a student body are afraid of investment and it is frustrating. This time in college is time for students to learn and grow as individuals, but there are bigger things going on. In preparing people for life after college, we cannot provide the illusion that you get what you want when you want it, sometimes we have to give. This is a situation where our student body needs to realize that the quality of their experience at this university is directly related to their level of investment. It is important to be here, to make relationships, to make connections, to be involved. Because in the end, this university will continue to give back as it grows and as our graduates grow and continue to give back as alumni, the quality of the university will give back to them. Let’s move past wanting to sleep in on Fridays or having three day weekends and think about the big picture- You get out of something what you put into it.