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U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H F L O R I DA
Administration says you can ‘explore’ with Finish in Four, students disagree
Some students are feeling pressured into pursuing majors they are no longer interested in to aid in maintaining USF’s preeminence status.
By Alyssa Stewart N E W S
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Students are taking to the Facebook class pages to express concerns about the legitimacy of USF’s four-year graduation plan. It all boils down to one mandate: the degree progression policy. This policy was created in 2013 “to guide students to on-time degree completion without earned excess credit hours as defined by the state of Florida” and amended last year. The outraged students are reacting to recent Finish in Four advertisements posted in the class pages last week and are claiming that advisors are preventing students from switching majors because of the policy. Dean of Undergraduate Studies Paul Atchley addressed the claims in an interview with The Oracle. “Students can change their major as long as they are able to complete their plan within the fouryear timeframe that the taxpayers of the state of Florida have clearly mandated,” Atchley said. “If students can switch their major or
add another degree and still be able to graduate on time, then it will be approved.” A frequent concern that was brought up by students in the Facebook class pages was that the university is placing funding over the needs of students, especially to keep the university’s preeminence status. “USF is not a cutthroat Ivy League school,” Alina Zhukova, a senior majoring in physics wrote in the class of 2021 page. “We’re supposed to serve our community. Throwing students under the bus just for higher ratings doesn’t reflect that.” Atchley said the four-year graduation rates do correlate with the preeminence metrics. “When students are graduating with less debt, that helps with maintaining preeminence,” Atchley said. To Atchley’s point about student debt, information about the Finish in Four plan states that “each additional year could cost (students) nearly $60,000.” The breakdown
to reach that number includes expenses like tuition, fees, supplies, housing and “unrealized income”. USF has to meet 11 of the 12 preeminence metrics in order to retain its status as preeminent. The twelfth metric requires at least a $500 million endowment and USF’s endowment has only $442 million. A potential drop in the university’s four-year graduation rate would result in the loss of preeminence. According to Christian Cavazos, a junior majoring in marketing, USF’s priority of funding is overshadowing a student’s ability to make decisions about their future. “Yes, they are trying to create people who are going to be influential in the world, but at the same time, they are going after the money,” Cavazos said. “It’s really just money first and all the other cute ‘here’s your cap and gown, go Bulls’ stuff later.” Cavazos said he believes the policy will limit a student’s option to explore other fields.
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The Finish in Four plan will only allow students to change their major if it will not delay their graduation. ORACLE FILE PHOTO
Timeflies will headline Bullstock after AJR cancellation
By Alyssa Stewart N E W S
E D I T O R
An announcement many students thought was a cruel April fool’s joke was anything but fake. The Campus Activities Board (CAB) told students via social media on April 1 that AJR will no longer be performing for
USF’s music festival, Bullstock. It was announced the following day that the American pop band Timeflies — most recognized from their song “Once in a While” — will now perform. This new addition joins the existing acts Sick Hot and Taverns — the winners
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of the Battle of the Bands — lovelytheband and 3OH!3. CAB was informed of the AJR cancellation on March 27 through its middle agent, which serve as a liaison between the band and CAB. The middle agent said the band canceled because of its Nov. 9 performance at the Yuengling
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Center. Associate Director for Center of Student Involvement (CSI) Josh Wilson said it was inferred that AJR was not comfortable with the arrangements for Bullstock. AJR apologized to USF students via social media and said that the situation turned
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into a “legal conflict.” “The university mislead us and contracted us to perform a closed show for the students, which we recently found out was free to the public,” AJR said in a Facebook post on April 1. Wilson said CAB had no
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