3+1=degradation

When I came to this campus for a visit with my father, I saw great potential.\nI saw a chance to get out from under my parents’ direct control. I saw a chance to study serious issues at a world-class university. I saw a campus loaded with attractive females.\nSix years, two degrees and thousands of dollars later, I fear this school is no longer the place I first laid eyes on.\nThe Indianapolis Star reported on Monday that the so called “3+1” program allows some out-of-state students who have attended three years of community college to take online IU classes for one year and earn their general-studies degree.\nAt the risk of sounding stuck up, I must say, this is the stupidest thing the University could do and is one of the quickest ways to degrade the quality of an IU degree.\nThe first issue is the background of many of these “students.”\nAll are community college students from Illinois, Arizona and California.\nI have nothing against community-college students, but if they want to attend our university, they should have to go through the same rigorous admissions process we did. I am sorry if this sounds arrogant, but I do not think the standards at places like Maricopa Community Colleges are as high as they are at IU.\nSecond, the one year students spend taking IU classes does not qualify them to be IU alumni.\nMany of us spend years of our lives on various campuses around this state. Some of us even live here while we go to school. Simply taking classes online does not make up for the experiences lost by not going to an IU campus.\nThird, this program reduces the quality and prestige of all our degrees.\nI have heard that two drops of machine oil can contaminate an entire ship’s fresh water supply. That is exactly what is happening here. A few less-than-stellar graduates bring us all down.\nI am not saying all participants in the “3+1” program are less than stellar, but they are more likely to be of a lower quality because many community colleges might not have the same rigorous selection process we do.\nA big issue here is fairness. Admissions standards were recently raised for the Indianapolis and Bloomington campuses. \nSo, at the same time admissions standards are being raised in some places, they are being lowered in others for the same institution. Where is the fairness there?\nThe University may have a responsibility to be a public steward and assist those looking to further their education, but this should be superseded by its responsibility to students and alumni.\nAfter spending years and thousands of dollars at this school, we have a right to expect that our degrees will carry some weight and prestige when we get into the working world.\nAnything less would be a dereliction of duty on the part of University administrators.