Project Space

Project Space

             Universities contain a very colorful and large population. When one looks at a commuter school, such as California State University, Northridge, it is clear to see that it is the most diverse scene around. Educational spaces employ a diverse staff of faculty and staff as well as a student body. Everyone has a different social status at the school; there are also a lot of different groups formed amongst the student body. Not only are groups formed and categorized amongst the student body, but there are also groups formed by the staff of the school. The space on campus is occupied by many, many different things. There are workers, student body, the staff, the buildings, and the food places on campus. Each one of these categories is individual and they all have meaning.

            Two of the groups that carry the most weight on their back are the students and the staff. In the group of the students, it is a large population all attending the school for the reason to get a degree, gain more intelligence in a certain field, and to graduate. The staff is made up of the teachers, workers, and the ones higher up. All of the staff are divided by what power they hold, and how much money they are making at the time. A question to ask oneself is, “Is it right to have so many students working towards getting a degree, while raising tuition and the classes they need are becoming harder and harder to obtain a seat in, while the chancellor and the school president are making a six-figure income?”

            The enrollment at CSUN has been moving up and down. In 1997 the amount of students was 170,748. In 2001, enrollment rose about 44,000. Now it is evening out at about 190,000 (csun.edu). This shows us that more people are going to school than they were in the 1990’s. This shows us that due to our economy becoming weaker and weaker, more people are striving to attend a university. Attending a university gives hope that with a degree after 4 years, that person will be making more money than someone who attended a city college; or no college at all. An issue that is brought to the table with this is that students are trying to make the best opportunity they can for themselves. The youth are paving their way for success by attending college, however, many people after they graduate are still working hard to pay off college loans, and debts that they have accumulated over their time at a university. The struggles continue for a student while the budgets are cut for all California State Universities, and also when California State University, Northridge gets struck with more and more cuts.

In December 2011, the CSU system announced that it will slash an additional $100 million from its general budget. This came after a $650 million reduction, as a result of lower-than-projected state revenues. More budget cuts come barreling our way to hit Cal State University Northridge as the California State University system-wide cut the funding to only $2 billion—a 27 percent reduction from 2010. This is an issue that needs to be raised, as the president of the school and the chancellor are raking in a six-figure income, the students are finding more and more tuition raises, budget cuts, dropped classes, and capacity enrollment.

To compensate for the cuts, six California State Universities over-enrolled students for the Fall 2011 semester. California State University Northridge over-enrolled the most students. The California State University system administration is threatening to withhold an additional $7 million from the campus if it doesn’t partly roll back enrollment by 2,800 students for the current spring semester.

In response to the mandatory enrollment rollback, CSUN announced a cap on the number of credits most students can carry, which will be enforced during the current add-drop period. Except for graduating seniors and a few other groups, that will mean no more than 15 units per student, per semester. This hinders the performance of students that wish to graduate quicker by taking more than 15 units, which is no longer allowed.

At California State University, Northridge there are groups divided amongst the students. There are the athletes, who are easily spotted out by wearing casual sweat-suit attire and sporting a red backpack. There are the commoners who just attend school here. There are the commuters who go to school here but don’t live on campus, and then there are the Greeks. Inside the groups, all the individuals lead different paths on their way to “success”. Whether it be becoming a doctor, firefighter, or a professional athlete, “success” is on the minds of the students.

All of these groups are divided and have very fine lines drawn between them. I know merely from being a student-athlete that we amongst the students are always trying to identify ourselves as the athletes. Each one of these social classes on campus will always stick together with their own kind if you will. If there is one thing that all these groups have in common it is that everyone is suffering from paying tuition, suffering from budget cuts, and everyone is having a hard time getting into the classes they need.

One of the issues that is brought to light from all of this is that more and more people are trying to go to college, but it is hard when the tuition is raised by that much. Also people are trying to graduate as hastily as possible and that is hard when students cannot get the necessary classes to continue in their education. It is also a hindrance to students who are trying to graduate at the quickest rate possible when the maximum amount of units a student is allowed to sign up for is capped at 15. At all schools, there are multiple social and economic issues that are brought onto the table. Issues of fitting in with the social groups that are formed on campus, and trying to afford the tuition and adding classes that a student needs to graduate while the California State University system is cutting more classes. It’s a very different scene on campus and it is clear to see all of these issues.

The university system is always going to share similarities. It will always have the students, and it will always have the faculty. These two feed off of each other because the students essentially pay for the faculty and staff’s paychecks, and the students are earning knowledge and intellect from the professors on campus. The issue is that the students are having a very rough time through their years at the school. It is getting more and more competitive to get into schools and once they are there, the journey is not any easier. All students feel the effect of the tuition raised. All students are struggling to fill their schedule with the classes that they actually need for their major. The people highest up at the schools are getting paid more than the brains they are graduating and those brains usually are going to have to pay student loans for the next years of their life out of college. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"CSUN : Student Affairs : CSUN Strategic Enrollment Management Plan - 2008 -2013."California State University, Northridge. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.csun.edu/studentaffairs/sem/historyandproj.htm>.

"World Socialist Web Site." Budget Cuts Hit California State University. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/csun-f14.shtml>.