TECHNICIAN
Taylor O’Quinn Staff Writer
The Change of Degree Application system was updated to make changing majors more accessible and less confusing for students, though transfer requirements still apply. The upgraded CODA system compiles all of the transfer requirements for undergraduate majors into one website. Students are now able to search for colleges and the majors they offer on one webpage. Michelle Johnson, senior associate registrar, said Registration and Records worked in conjunction with the Poole College of Management, the College of Engineering and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences to develop the new program. “We all wanted a single standard online application, which eliminates paper applications and helps set up a universal deadline,” Johnson said. The University formerly used different applications for each college, and they all had various deadlines. According to Chancellor Randy Woodson, the issue with intracampus transfers was identified by a student task force. All of the colleges at N.C. State have temporarily agreed that in order to apply to add or change a major, a student must have completed at least 12 credit hours and have a 2.0 minimum GPA. Some majors may require students to complete certain classes before they can apply for a transfer. “Colleges want to see that you can be successful before you switch majors,” Johnson said. “[They] don’t want students to change to another major if it seems they won’t be successful.” In the future, Johnson said she hopes colleges will move away from requiring certain grade point averages and specific courses. If students are unhappy in their current majors, then their GPA will reflect that. Casey Reep, a sophomore in First Year College, said she likes the new system since it’s easier to search and find colleges and specific majors. Reep said she plans to use the new system in January to apply to be an English major.
“There’s not a lot of hassle or hunting for the requirements anymore,” Reep said. The entire process of adding or changing a major can be completed online by going to the N.C. State website and searching “CODA.” Select the red “proceed to application” button during the application cycles. After clicking on this button, students will be prompted to log in with their unity ID and password. Students can then select a college and a specific major that they would like to switch into or add. No matter which degree or college a student picks, the new program will automatically check to see if the minimum requirements to apply are met. If a student does not meet the minimum requirements then the program will not allow the student to apply to that particular college or major. “This process is designed to be simple,” Johnson said. “We don’t want it to be like another round of admissions.” The second step in the program will simulate students’ projected new audit to see where they stand by means of credit hours and how many more they will need. This is helpful in allowing students, regardless of class, to know whether or not switching into or adding another major will affect their graduation dates. In the third step, students clarify if they want to add or change their current major. If students already have two majors then they will have to decide which one they are trying to change. “This program gives the student some control,” Johnson said. More than 1,000 applications have already been submitted without much advertising except by word of mouth. With the success of the new CODA system, the University plans to incorporate another system where students can declare or change a minor online.
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technicianonline.com
Degree transfer system sees improvements
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TAKING A MOMENT TO REMEMBER
GREG WILSON/TECHNICIAN
Matthew Kent, junior in textile engineering, takes a moment out of his Wednesday morning to appreciate the 800 flags arranged outside of Witherspoon Hall, each representing a veteran from N.C. State. “I think it’s a really cool idea and it’s a great way to show support for our troops” Kent said.
BoG recommends sooner class drop date Staff Report The Board of Governors recommended that schools in the UNC System push the date at which students can drop classes to 10 days after the start of the semester during the board’s meeting Thursday. N.C. State’s current drop date is eight weeks after the start of the semester. Though the board made the recommendation to UNC-System President Tom Ross, he said he must
consult with students from various schools in the system before he can make a decision. Rachel Turner, chief of staff under Student Body President Andy Walsh, said NCSU Chancellor Randy Woodson and UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp advocated to not shorten the dates. “We weighed the pros and cons of the idea, but we decided not to vote on it at all, and handed it to President Ross,” Turner said. “Many of
the Board members said this wasn’t a cookie-cutter thing. We were confused why it even came up.” Turner said the problem came up after UNC-System students complained that they could not register for classes they needed. With the proposed drop date, Turner said university administrators think classes will be able to retain and add students to classes more efficiently.
Campus experts analyze election Jake Moser Staff Writer
A discussion on the results of Tuesday’s elections was held in Caldwell Hall Wednesday afternoon. Steven Greene, associate professor of political science, and Andrew Taylor, professor of political science, led the discussion. The event was casual — questions and dialogue could come from anyone in attendance. Taylor said the “strongest” or “most intelligent” conclusions
Collaboration improves diversity education Megan Dunton
about an election could not be made just 24 hours after it, but there were still some interesting points to be made. The discussion covered the elections in the House and Senate, but focused on the presidential race. Overall, the audience walked away with some interesting facts about Tuesday’s election. Greene mentioned the success of social science in the days leading up to the election. “The people who compiled data from polls to make predictions were basically dead on,” Greene said. “I found that very edifying.”
Greene emphasized the role of demographics in President Barack Obama’s victory. While non-Hispanic Caucasians voted for Mitt Romney “60-40” according to Greene, non-white voters voted for Obama “80-20.” In addition, he mentioned that Republicans tend to rely on the vote of older voters, while Democrats typically get the younger vote. This held true on Tuesday — the youth vote for Obama even increased from 18 percent in 2008 to 19 percent, a number many critics
ELECTION continued page 6
University professor chairs EPA committee
Staff Writer
Megan Dunton Last year’s realignment of the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity has gone successfully and smoothly, according to the Women’s Center, the GLBT Center and Multicultural Student Affairs. The vision of the OIED is to foster an inclusive campus community of students, faculty and staff who value and inspire personal, academic and professional excellence. All three centers were moved under the umbrella of the OIED on July 1, 2011 by Chancellor Randy Woodson’s realignment plan. This move reflected an effort to continue enhancing the University’s commitment to equity and diversity. According to Ashley SimonsRudolph, director of the Women’s Center, the OIED has provided better collaboration through improved communication. Simons-Rudolph said the centers collaborate on most events and programs. “I think that coming together as
Staff Writer
GEORGIA HOBBS/TECHNICIAN
Julius Perkins, Program Assistant at the GLBT center, coordinates campus plans and events in his office, Sept. 1.
an OIED family has provided a lot of benefits, including cross-promotion of events, programs and services,” Simons-Rudolph said. “Now that we are organized it makes it that much easier because we share a calendar, we share a supervisor and we meet monthly as directors. We are able to better speak to our sister centers about their programs.” Rod Bradley, director of Multicultural Student Affairs, also said the
collaboration enabled better communication. “The provost has provided an opportunity for a very open and clear communication between units just in the frequency we all are able to connect with one another,” Bradley said. Simons-Rudolph said the program is only getting bigger and
OIED continued page 3
In an age where “clean air” and “ozone” are everyday terms, one of N.C. State’s own professors was appointed to chair the Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Committee earlier this semester. H. Christopher Frey, a distinguished university professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, is not a stranger to working with the EPA, and he has been on the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee for four years. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson appointed Frey to the position — a promotion he attributes to his previous experience with the committee. “The appointment was both a surprise and not a surprise, but it’s always a surprise to actually get the decision,” Frey said. “I
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knew there was a chance I could get the appointment just given my experience with CASAC and the time I had spent chairing one of the panels. I had a track record.” CASAC is responsible for reviewing the scientific basis of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard. The NAAQS sets an air concentration limit that six nationally regulated pollutants cannot surpass. Every five years, panels review each of the pollutants, and some reviews happen simultaneously. Frey currently chairs the ozone and lead panels. Each of the panels reviews studies conducted by EPA staff and analyzes the scientific basis of each. The EPA also conducts a risk assessment that predicts statistics on premature death and illness if the pollutant concentration thresholds were lowered. The EPA takes the panels’ findings and proposes a policy that either maintains or lowers the stan-
EPA continued page 3
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