Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / March 31, 2010, edition 1 / Page 19
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nnmpi IS Wednesday, March 31,2010 hH {The Blue Getting a college degree takes more than four years Excessive requirements and miscommunication keep students in school S tudents at UNC Asheville who wish to graduate in four years will have a hard time if they fail to re main mindful of the university’s specific course requirements, including integra tive liberal studies courses that some times feel more burdensome than ben eficial. According to the UNCA institutional research, slightly more than 30 percent of students who entered UNCA as full time freshmen in fall 2005 graduated last May, while 51.4 percent of students graduated last May after five years at the university. The trend continues back to gradua tion in May 2003, with lower percent ages of students graduating in four years compared to five and six. Patricia McClellan, UNCA’s assis tant provost for academic administra tion, said students fail to graduate in four years for a number of reasons, including having two majors, changing their ma jors, simply not wishing to graduate in four years or being unaware of UNCA’s requirements. Two ILS requirements students occa sionally struggle to meet, or denounce as unnecessary, are topical clusters, which consist of a natural science, a social sci ence and an elective in various catego ries, and intensives, like writing, diversi ty, quantitative and information literacy courses. “The only thing that frustrates me about the requirements is the clusters,” said Charlotte Law, an environmental studies student at UNCA planning to graduate in five years. We have enough variety in UNCA’s requirements to have the liberal arts ex perience, and taking additional classes in a cluster seems excessive. It can be excessive, especially since many of the course combinations in each cluster seem random and unrelated. Students usually aim for clusters con taining courses they must complete for By Sarah Hinson Staff Writer SBHINSON@UNCA.EDU their majors and minors, and select the most appealing or most painless classes. Though the concept of clusters is ap plicable in a liberal arts setting, many students do not want to bother taking the additional courses. Cluster courses should be unified un der topics that are more related to stu dents’ majors and interests so they feel less pointless and annoying. Intensive courses also prove trouble some, especially since the aspects of each intensive course should already ex ist in UNCA’s classes. “I do feel that the intensives are ri diculous requirements,” said UNCA student Tayler Harris, graduating in May after four years of college. “As part of our liberal arts education, each professor should be challenging us with assign ments that assess our writing, diversity and quantitative competency.” Law and Harris both said they know many students at UNCA who will not be graduating in four years. However, graduating in four years is certainly possible. Harris graduates in May, after eight semesters, with a politi cal science major and a history minor. She also spent a semester at Belmont Abbey College before transferring to UNCA and another semester in Wash ington, D.C., for an internship. “I feel that UNCA students can grad uate in four years if their circumstances are just right,” Harris said. “For exam ple, I took 17 to 18 hours a semester until my senior year, and I didn’t feel over whelmed or like I couldn’t handle my course load.” Harris added that most students do Graduation rate statistics for 2007 * Fifty-six percent of.U.S. students who entered in 2001 graduated by 2007. ' *Thp North Carolina graduation rate for the same timeline is 58.j percent. * Nearly qojjcrcent of 18- to 24~year~olds enrolled in college jn the U.S. This constituted io,ooS,87t students across the country. * Rough^ 33 percent of North Cai olina students, in the same age group, were cprolled in college, * The retention rate for full-time students returning for their second years was 77.1 percent across the country * In North Carolina, the retention rate for foU-time students was slightly mt>re than 77.6 percent. ■’’’Across, the nation, the percentage of high school graduates enrolling immediately in college was 61.6 percent. * In North Carolina, for that same group, the number was 6y.6 percent. Information couHesy of'Fhe National Center for Higher Education ' Management Systems We have enough variety in UNCA’s requirements to have the iiberai arts experience, and taking additionai ciasses in a duster seems excessive. not feel like they have full control over their grades with more than 15 hours a semester, which makes it more difficult to finish in four years. “Also, you have to basically have your major narrowed down and a cluster chosen by the end of your freshman year to successfully fulfill your graduation requirements in four years,” Harris said. She said each freshman or transfer student who comes to UNCA has the opportunity to discover UNCA’s gradu ation requirements, but LSIC professors. who are supposed to inform freshmen of their duties, often fail to do so. “Plan ahead,” Harris advised. “Try to make an eight-semester plan as early as possible. Find a knowledgeable pro fessor on campus who is willing to help you.” Even though graduating in four years can be challenging, students can manage it if they care enough to take the time to inform themselves and plan out their se- See graduation Page 22|
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March 31, 2010, edition 1
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