The three versus four-credit debate continued on Wednesday, April 2. Faculty members discussed their opinions on the matter during an hour-long debate.
The discussion was highly structured. Representatives from both the minority and majority reports were given time to express their opinions, followed by Provost Bernier’s sentiments. The majority of the discussion was left to a question and answer session where faculty members could question the representatives further, as well as give personal insight into the debate at hand.
“We will have a time limited discussion, we will take an hour to discuss the issue, we will not vote on this issue today. We will wait until the May issue to vote on it,” Cathie LeBlanc, faculty speaker said.
Dr. Ann McClellan from the English Department spoke in favor of the majority report. McClellan supports the switch to a four-credit system.
“First I would like to thank the members of the taskforce for all there hard work. All along the way there was never any doubt that everybody elected for this committee was working in the interest of the PSU faculty, students and the staff,” McClellan said.
“We talked to other institutions, we talked about these obstacles while they made the transition and the benefits to faculty, students and institution outweigh the obstacles and the hard work that we will have to do,” McClellan said.
The process to convert the University into a four-credit institution will be a difficult one. Many courses and programs would have to be reconfigured in order to adhere to the new standards of the four-credit institution.
“I know that every one of you in this room has the benefits of the students, the institution and the faculty at heart and I hope we have a lively conversation and debate about sharing your ideas, our concerns and the benefits and drawbacks that you may have,” McClellan said.
Mr. Robert Miller from the Education Department spoke on behalf of the Minority Report. “As I said, I am representing the minority report. We are encouraging to reaffirm our commitment to the three credit reform and furthermore, to agree to cease the debate on this issue for a period of seven years,” Miller said.
The Minority Report is in favor of waiting seven years to reopen discussion in order to allow the University to review its current system. One of the Minority Report’s biggest issues has been the general education program.
The General Education program at PSU was reconfigured in 2003. The Minority Report argues that radical changes to the curriculum so soon after the changes in the general education program would not be in the best interest of the University. They argue that after seven years, the faculty and administration will have a better grasp of the direction the University is heading in and only then could make an educated decision.
“The four credit question has actually been debated and questioned four times in the last fifteen years. Each time the issue comes up, the problem solving seems to go on hold,” Miller said. Miller and the other members of the Minority Report have been uncomfortable with the prospect of changing to a four-credit system.
“The fundamental point is we are unconvinced by the evidence that the majority presented,” Miller said. Those supporting the Minority Report feel that most institutions built around the same ideals of PSU have a three-credit system, and therefore, there would be no need to use a four-credit system.
The issue of changing to a different credit system is a hot topic because of the variety of programs offered to PSU students and the change would be a huge undertaking. “Every one of our ninety six majors will have to be reorganized,” Miller said. Of all the faculty members who expressed their opinions through the meeting, it was unclear whether or not there was a general consensus among faculty members. Dr. Rebecca Noel, an assistant professor of history spoke about “focus splitting” between subjects.
“In my undergraduate institution, I had to take thirty six courses to graduate,” Noel said. This resulted in having to take either four or five courses per semester. “The semesters where I took four, my GPA went up,” she said. Noel offered her experience from having a varying number of courses per year.
The Majority Report argues that if students have fewer courses per semester, they would be more likely to get involved with extra curricular activities.
“I had more time for activities,” she added. “Those were the semesters I had more time to explore a field of topics that eventually led to my career,” she added. “The semesters where I took five classes were semesters that really screwed up my GPA,” she said.
The Majority Report outlined how instances like this were prevalent in institutions that had adopted the four-credit system. Noel also talked about the current system in use by the University on academic probation. “There must be a reason why – when our students get in trouble, when they are on academic probation, we don’t allow then to take more than four classes,” she added. This is done so students on academic probation may focus more on academics. Dr.Wendy Palmquist, from the psychology department, openly disagreed with the four-credit model on the grounds that it would not be the best route for the school. “I am opposed to the four credit curriculum, I think having the four credit system would cancel out the first year seminar,” Palmquist said. The first year seminar teaches first year students the concepts of critical thinking. The inception of the seminar occurred at the time of the reorganization of the general education program.
Dr. Robin De Rosa added that PSU is not currently an exclusively three-credit institution. “It’s interesting to note that we have a mostly three credit system, but not exclusively a three credit system,” De Rosa said.
The Meteorology and Music, Theater and Dance Departments both offer courses that are not three credits.
Provost Bernier spoke on behalf of embracing the four-credit model. “There is really only, I think, one compelling reason to do something this sweeping that would take this much time, and energy, and that would be, if it is good for students,” Bernier said. Bernier argued on the basis of cost. The price of higher education is continuously climbing.
“This discussion comes at a time where there are unprecedented increases in the costs for higher education, and the significant reduction in access to loans and we know our students take out a great deal of loans,” Bernier said.
According to Bernier, PSU students graduate with an average of $27,000 worth of debt. “Not all of our students graduate within four years. A lot of our students graduate within five or six. One additional year of college here costs an average of $7,000 which will take them an additional five years to pay it off, and it will cost them $25,000 in the repayment period in interest,” Bernier said.
“I would love to see research that says that by switching from three credits to four credits our students would be able to graduate in four years. That study does not exist, I don’t think that will ever exist, even if we set out to show that,” Bernier said. “I will go with what my gut tells me, and my gut tells me that students will graduate in a more timely fashion if they take four classes instead of five,” Bernier said.
Bernier cited the fact that many students decide to take four classes a semester instead of five as a measure to stay more focused on school. Other students sign up for five classes but end up withdrawing from one, causing them to have to stay an extra year to make up for the lost class. “UNH’s [a four credit institution] graduation rate is significantly higher than ours, and I don’t think they have significantly better students than we do,” Bernier said.
Dr. David Zehr, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and psychology professor was dissuaded by the lack of evidence to support the move.
“It feels like we would be entering an arranged marriage,” Zehr said. Some opponents to the four-credit system are weary because they feel there has not been adequate discussion on the actual implementation of the four-credit system. “I just don’t feel comfortable right now saying that it sounds good on paper, but what’s going to happen next? What’s going to happen when the seduction’s over?” he added.
The meeting proved that opinions on the matter were varied across the board. As of yet, it is unclear if there is a general opinion held by the faculty regarding the credit system. A final vote will be decided on during the May faculty meeting.