News 3 Academic Senate revises general education policies
MONDAY FEBRUARY 12, 2018
University comes closer to compliance with Chancellor Timothy P. White’s executive orders. JASON ROCHLIN Asst. News Editor
DALIA QUIROZ / DAILY TITAN
A 2016 report by the American College Health Association says that the percentage of Cal State Fullerton students taking Adderall and other study drugs has decreased.
The Cal State Fullerton Academic Senate made strides toward bringing general education policies into compliance with Cal State University Chancellor Timothy P. White’s Executive Order 1100, revising two documents at Thursday’s meeting. The Academic Senate made changes to a university policy outlining general education unit requirements, academic standards, and exceptions to ensure the information it details matches changes mandated by the executive order. It was heavily debated, undergoing additional revisions throughout the meeting. The first motion to amend it further came from Brady Heiner, academic senator and associate professor of philosophy, who wanted to use language from a Chancellor’s Office FAQ to clarify that the “golden four” core competency requirements and necessary prerequisites be the minimum work necessary to take upper-division general education courses. The golden four lower GE requirements are oral communication (A.1), written communication (A.2), critical thinking (A.3) and mathematics or quantitative reasoning (B.4). “There are significant enrollment impacts in my college related to this minimum,” Heiner said. “So we should use the language directly from the Chancellor’s Office.” His motion was seconded by Nancy Fitch, academic senator, who said the school should make it as easy as possible for students to complete their degrees faster. “Why not let them take one of these GE classes when they have fewer than 60 units if they’ve met, at a minimum, the golden four,” Fitch said. The amendment ultimately passed 19
to 12. The second substantial change to the document at Thursday’s meeting was to list out the individual general education categories in the text and specify that the B.5 requirement, “Implications and Explorations of Mathematics and National Sciences,” must be fulfilled by a three unit upper-division course. While some senators did not agree with every change to general education requirements that the chancellor ordered, the revised document was unanimously approved and the Pollak Library Instruction Room was filled with applause. The last time revisions were made to the document was on July 6, 2016. Another document detailing policies regarding new and existing general education courses was given a clause requiring those classes that have not been offered within five years have their status removed by the Office of Academic Programs. The revisions were to be approved without discussion, but General Education Committee member Greg Childers asked to re-evaluate the policy to apply two minor changes in language. “These items do not pertain at all to Executive Order 1100, they’re just some outstanding issues,” Childers said about the mid-meeting adjustments. The statute of limitation update was approved soon after. “This actually is the end of a stage of a lot of work people did. We’ll continue to talk about GE down the road, but this is an incredible moment,” said Academic Senate Chair Stephen Stambough. General Education Committee Chair Brenda Bowser said the committee has “no time to rest” as they now have to focus on repositioning academic courses into new categories. “Right now I feel relieved because this was a big effort and we’ve achieved the major milestones of revising our policies,” Bowser said. She also recommended students watch for opportunities to participate in the general education requirement revision process coming later this year.
Fewer students are using study drugs TitanWell health educator says Adderall shouldn’t be the campus’ main concern. LAUREN DIAZ Staff Writer
To carry nonprescription study drugs like Adderall is a felony, but this hasn’t stopped students at Cal State Fullerton from using it as an aid for their all-nighters and cramming sessions. Adderall is a Schedule II controlled substance, meaning it has a high potential for abuse which may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. It’s used to speed up the brain and nervous system to treat conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression and obesity. It requires a doctor’s prescription and is meant to help increase the ability to focus, pay attention and control behavior. While CSUF students are taking these drugs, their numbers have been decreasing since 2014, according to a 2016 report from the American College Health Association. The biennial study randomly selects about a quarter of the 40,000 students on campus. These students are emailed confidential surveys, and about 1,100 surveys are completed and documented for data, said Laura Ross, a health educator at TitanWell. Only five percent of students reported using stimulants not prescribed to them, according to the 2016 study. This includes all stimulants, not just Adderall.
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I’m more concerned that there’s coping skills that students need to learn about how to study, how to sleep better, how to be rested and how to study properly to remember things instead of just taking a pill.
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LAURA ROSS TitanWell health educator VISIT US AT: DAILYTITAN.COM
“I think alcohol is definitely a bigger issue. Marijuana is a bigger issue. Cigarettes are a bigger issue. (Study drugs) are not rocking our world,” Ross said. Relying on Adderall to study may not give students the results they desire, Ross said. “I’m more concerned that there’s coping skills that students need to learn about how to sleep better, be rested and study properly to remember things instead of just taking a pill,” Ross said. CSUF policy, outlined in the presidential directives, prohibits the possession or sale of any illicit drug or narcotic, and students found to be in violation may be “warned, placed on university probation, suspended or dismissed from the university and/or expelled from the residence halls depending upon the seriousness of the violation.” The violating student may face prosecution if referred to the Orange County District Attorney, and could also see their financial aid affected, according to President’s Directive No. 1. Several students on campus who have experimented with the stimulant echoed Ross’ statement and believe poor time management is the cause of their use. Damien, now a senior business major, started taking Adderall in his second year out of curiosity and due to its availability. “It definitely helped, but it’s not a necessity,” Damien said. Tiffany, a third-year business major, still uses Adderall once every other week when she needs to write papers. “I think students would take it no matter how much homework they have. If other students who aren’t taking it are able to do the same amount of work and get good results, then they can do it too,” Tiffany said. Ross said students who are high when studying would probably need to be the same way when taking a test, in order to be successful. “Sometimes students let themselves get overloaded with work, because we have that as an option. We overload ourselves and then we say ‘Alright we’ll just take an Adderall,’” Damien said. “I don’t want to make it sound like school is easy, but it’s definitely doable without Adderall.”
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