9:00am | Officials at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) will hold a series of three public hearings, beginning Friday, February 24, to discuss changes the university is considering to its admissions guidelines that may become effective for the 2013-14 academic year.
 
David Dowell, CSULB’s vice provost for planning and budgets, was quite succinct with his opinion of the matter, stating that the unprecedented number of undergraduate applicants — some 76,000 — in combination with lacking state resources causes CSULB to consider “implement[ing] changes to our admissions guidelines that will help us make better use of our scarce resources. Before we make any changes, however, it is important that we get the public’s input. We will carefully consider all comments we receive from the campus and the community before we change admissions guidelines.”
 
Among the changes being considered to CSULB’s admissions guidelines are:

• Emphasizing major-specific academic criteria for admission, which involves declaring all academic programs “impacted” at both the freshman and transfer levels;  

• Continuing to admit local freshmen and transfer applicants who meet minimum major-specific academic criteria for admission and have at least a reasonable likelihood of degree completion, consistent with local access and the Long Beach College Promise;

• Increasing outreach to communities characterized by low socioeconomic status and historically low rates of college going. 

The proposed changes are expected to make improvements at the university in a number of important areas, including increasing degree completion and shortening the time to degree for students. At the same time, the campus wants to continue to provide access to local students with at least a reasonable chance of degree completion as well as maintain and enhance campus diversity.
 
Those interested can view an executive summary of the proposed guidelines and read responses to a frequently asked questions document, both available online.  Additionally, those who cannot attend one of the public hearings can comment on the proposed changes and submit them online.  All comments will receive consideration.
The first public hearing is scheduled for 10:30am on February 24, in the Board Meeting Room of Coast Community College, located at 1370 Adams Ave. in Costa Mesa. The second is set for 3:00pm Wednesday, February 29, in the Barrett Athletic Administration Center at CSULB, which is at 1250 Bellflower Blvd. in Long Beach. The final hearing will be held on Wednesday, March 7, beginning at 2:00pm in the Board Room at Long Beach City College, located at 4901 E. Carson St. in Long Beach.