The debate for Eastern Washington University to switch from the quarter system to the semester system was held two years ago, and resulted in the school remaining on the quarter system. The decision was made after measuring a student survey and a town hall meeting on Nov. 8, 2013, where students and faculty made presentations.
This debate needs to happen once again at Eastern. By staying on the quarter system, the university is inhibiting students from transferring from and to the school.
In a recent study published by the nonprofit National Student Clearing House Research Center, over one third of 3.6 million students in the study who began school in 2008 were found to have transferred to a different institution at least once within six years.
Eastern reported 44 percent of the incoming undergraduate students were transfers from two- and four-year colleges for the 2014-15 academic year.
With such a large portion of the incoming students being transfers, the university needs to research how to potentially bring in more transfer students and improve the transfer process. Students transferring from a semester school to Eastern, and vice versa, often experience a loss of credits and courses not transferring.
The town hall meeting on Nov. 8, 2013, was to have students and faculty present their opinion on the switch for the board of trustees meeting on Dec. 3, 2013. The board of trustees would then vote whether the university will switch or not to the semester system.
Eastern's student newspaper, The Easterner, reported "money issues, student retention and curriculum change [as] the common themes of presentations made at the board of trustees town hall meeting." Most faculty and students at the meeting were in favor of remaining on the quarter system.
The meeting notes from the EWU Rules Committee meeting on Nov. 18, 2013, stated the Associated Students of Eastern Washington University held a survey for students to voice their opinions on the quarter-to-semester debate. Of the 2,400 students who responded to the survey, 81 percent wanted to remain on the quarter system, 10 percent wanted to switch to the semester system and 9 percent felt they did not have enough information to make an informed decision.
On the pure fact alone that the majority of colleges and universities in the country are on the semester system, Eastern should make the switch. Because other schools are not on the quarter system, credits transfer differently between the two systems (e.g. multiply the semester credits by 1.5 to get the number of quarter credits).
Here is the confusing part: Some academic programs at Eastern are on the semester system. Many of the health science majors are on the semester system to best accommodate the required clinical rotations and externships for students.
Because of the results of the survey by the National Clearing House Research Center, Eastern administration should reevaluate their stance on switching to semesters to better support transfer students.
Eastern needs to revisit the debate and verdict two years ago on switching the university to the semester system. More education needs to be given to students to better inform them of the switch. Switching systems will better enable transferring to and from the university and get all of the academic programs on the same track.
