I’ll just provide some background information so that this story makes more sense but essentially there’s a Design class, let’s call it “Design.” It is a one semester class that has 2 prerequisites “PA” and “PB”.
Now. this is a senior level class and it is basically the senior design class needed for engineers to graduate.
Okay, anyways, they split the Design class into 2, “Design 1” and “Design 2” but kept the prerequisites. So essentially, you need to take it into 2 consecutive semesters instead of 1.
Now, I understand why they did this but… they did it THIS semester with NO warning.
My situation:
I would have all my prereqs by the time I take “Design” because I had “Design” scheduled for my spring semester. However, now I need to take Design 1 my fall and Design 2 my spring to graduate but I will NOT have my prereqs in time.
I talked to my advisor, the dean, and everything and they said they can’t do anything about it.
I just don’t understand why they would make such a big and sudden change that pretty much screwed a lot of juniors and even seniors who planned on graduating this semester and now have to graduate next semester.
What do y’all think? Do you think this is wrong? I think they should compensate for it somehow…
What courses are the replacement(s)?
What are the prerequisites?
For the prerequisites, which have you taken, and when will you take the ones you have not taken?
Is it in the typical curriculum for your major to have the pre-reqs taken by senior year?
If so, why didn’t you do that?
Can you take them over the summer? or maybe even at another college?
I would talk to the head of the dept and have them brainstorm ideas with you.
The registrar would be the one to talk to about whether the department can change your degree requirements without notice and stop offering the classes for the old requirements.
Otherwise, look for another way to get back on track such as a summer course.
They do not offer the prerequisite that I need for the design class over summer.
@ucbalumnus I have taken all but 1, Compe375 which I am taking next semester and was hoping I could take it concurrently with the design class.
@bopper Probably. People usually spend 5 years / 4.5 so in a way, they typically get it done. I was planning on finishing in 4 years, next year being my last. Regardless, I’d have my pereqs done by the design class had they kept it the same. A lot of seniors had this issue too.
@AroundHere Talked to them. Apparently they can. They completely removed a class, and added a new one in replacement of it so I am not surprised they split the class in 2. I am more upset about how your catalog year isn’t a guarantee of the classes you need to take because they just changed it like that.
I agree that it would have been better to make changes effective with the next incoming class rather than changing graduation requirements for those who are already upper classmen, but I don’t see any leverage to make the department change their mind.
CE 375 and EE 330L in semester 5
EE 410 and EE 430 in semester 6
EE 490 in semester 8
If they are splitting EE 490 into a two semester sequence for semesters 7 and 8, they must be assuming that all of the prerequisites are done in semesters 5 and 6.
Still, it is bad practice to change requirements in this way without sufficient advance notice or allowing students who are well into the curriculum to complete the old requirements. It is also counterproductive to the presumed goal of ensuring that all students graduate as soon as they reasonably can.
@AroundHere@ucbalumnus Just talked to the chair head. Essentially, he said there’s nothing he can do and I’ll just have to take the extra semester. It just sucks for me because I’ll end up losing my ROTC commissioning because I could not graduate on time due to this change.
The reason I pushed 375 to next fall was due to the professor and course load. I took a rather heavier course load last semester and was unaware of the changes that would be made to the Senior Design class.
What’s even worse is, on my “Blackboard,” it says, “For students who need to take CompE375 and Senior Design concurrently, we will open more sections…” Then I come in today and ask the chair and SHOWED HIM THE MESSAGE and he said, “It’s called a pre-requisite for a reason. We cannot let you take it concurrently.”
Thanks guys for understanding my situation. I guess overall, I am just more or less upset at the fact that I will not commission in the Air Force due to not graduating on time. Regardless of this emphasis on I need to graduate on time (and I legit actually do,) there is nothing that can be done at the moment.
I loaded up with so many engineering classes these past few semesters only to be shut down and not graduate on time. Regardless, life is sometimes unfair and I’ll just have to deal with it.
@ucbalumnus If you look at the most recent MyMap, the changes have not even been updated and won’t be for a while, and it’s still assuming you are taking 490, and I just figured… as long as I have all my pre-reqs done by 490 I’ll be fine, I guess that isn’t the case anymore.
Seems like a very unethical and counterproductive thing for the SDSU EE department to do. The more common practice when changing requirements and associated courses is to continue offering the old courses long enough so that students part way through the old requirements can complete them without delaying progress or graduation.
Perhaps The Daily Aztec may want to run a story on that.
What have the ROTC people said about this? Would they have any leverage that you don’t?
By the way, I’m not sure how ROTC works, so sorry if this is an obvious question, but when you say you will not commission if you don’t graduate in time, does that mean you lose all possibility of commissioning or just that you have to postpone it?
If you don’t feel the prerequisite is necessary for the class (and I don’t know if it is or isn’t), maybe ask if they will give you a waiver given the circumstances and let you take a prerequisite and the course concurrently.
It takes a military level of planning to figure out what you need to take, when you need to take it, and then IF you can even get the classes to make all the moving parts work to get a 4-year degree…in 4 years. Unfortunately, the idea that a student is being reasonable by expecting to graduate in 4 years if there haven’t been an changes to his/her major and a full load is being taken each semester/quarter is sort of a pipe dream now. USNWR’s college rankings included the metric of percentage of students who graduate in SIX years, not FOUR. They do not appear to care that you have to take an extra semester because they decided to change the course requirements without accommodations for those near the end of their undergrad. Wouldn’t they usually say that the change applies to maybe incoming freshman/sophomores and anyone coming in behind them?
I really hope something positive happens for you and your fellow EE students who are affected by this, especially with your ROTC situation all messed up now. Keep pushing, and I’d definitely contact the school paper. If it can happen to you, it happen to other majors.
Yes, an article in The Daily Aztec may cause lots of other students to become worried that surprise changes in requirements will delay their graduation. If you are lucky, there may be enough of an uproar that it may result in other departments putting out statements that they will not change requirements in a way that causes students part way through the old requirements to be delayed in progress or graduation, putting pressure on the EE department. If you are even more lucky, the administration may learn hard on the EE department for causing the four year graduation rate to be worse (which impacts both rankings and campus capacity planning – and it if comes out before May 1 and gets publicized around the state, could affect yield of new frosh and transfer students).