In reference to Tuesday's editorial on the impending switch to semesters, the students of Ohio University and throughout the University System of Ohio shouldn't have to look on the bright side.
Consistently, Ohio University and the four other schools in the University System of Ohio on quarters investigated and found no ACADEMIC reason to switch. Semesters and quarters each have benefits and drawbacks. For the university system as a whole, there are ADMINISTRATIVE benefits to a single system, but is that really the argument we want to make?
The schools in the University System of Ohio have a primary goal of educating students, not easing administrative burdens. In the absence of compelling data to support the superiority of either system, it should be left to the prospective students to choose the format that best suits their learning style.
The University System of Ohio should be supporting the variety of learning environments, not seeking to create cookie-cutter universities. In fact, this is less about the university system than the failure of Ohio University and its Board of Trustees to take a stand on the issue.
The strategic plan released by the Ohio Board of Regents doesn't even require this switch. It strongly encourages universities to make the change to cut costs and ease transfers, but even it falls short of actually mandating the change.
At this point, the decision would appear to be made, but as a policy, this represents a massive failure. It is a failure of the Board of Regents to support educational opportunity in Ohio, a failure of Ohio University and its Board of Trustees to act in the best interests of its students and a failure of students to demand diversity in the style of education they can choose from throughout the university system.-Tim Seidel is a 1998 alumnus of Ohio University and writes from Pittsburgh, Pa.
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Letter to the Editor
