By
Emily Severson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
New Cohort system benefits juniors but leaves some
Marketing senior Deidre Elerath witnesses everyday that the Eller College of Business and Public Administration has the largest enrollment at the UA.
She does not need the statistics - 5,083 students - to tell her that.
What she needs is someone to explain the college's new junior cohort program because as a senior, she feels deserted.
Last fall, hundreds of business seniors struggled to get into classes, despite the fact that they should have had priority, she said.
However, burgeoning enrollment in the business college has prevented everybody who wants a business degree from getting one. Only a little more than 800 students are granted cohort, or advanced standing - a designation necessary for a bachelors in business.
But since current seniors are not in the cohort system, they are often left at the mercy of the cohorts' dynamics.
"The department was forced to add classes for us, but they were at 8 a.m. and we had no choice," said Elerath, who said she had to run around to each department on her own time to secure her classes. "They did make room for us, but it's been a major inconvenience."
Pamela Perry, associate dean of BPA undergraduate programs, said she understands the student frustration.
"But our responsibility is that we ensure students a way to graduate our program and we have met that responsibility," she said.
Intentions and results
"The cohort system is primarily an enrollment management model so that we can guarantee student flow through the program," Perry said.
The cohort program was established in fall 2000 to ensure that students graduate in a timely manner. Students are able to obtain this standing once they have taken all of their lower division foundation business classes and need at least a 2.7 cumulative GPA.
Students can apply twice, and are only allowed two rejections.
Once accepted into the cohort program, students have one choice - taking classes in the morning or afternoon. Registration is then automatically done by the college.
Aside from helping students graduate quicker, the cohort system will provide more uniformity across the business departments, Perry said.
"We found that students didn't like how a lot of small sections inconsistently provided information across the sections," Perry said. "One professor would teach one thing and the other wouldn't. Or the prerequisite information for another class was inconsistently emphasized in both sections."
Still, the program would not launch smoothly.
The problem, as Perry puts it, is that the college underestimated the number of seniors who still had junior-level core classes to complete.
"When we registered the cohort students we didn't expect so many seniors to have outstanding courses," she said.
Perry added that a lot of the seniors were unhappy about the difficulty in getting classes, and how classes are now overflowing because of the department's poor preparation.
Perry said the business college sent an e-mail last spring to all graduating seniors and asked them to inform the department of the classes they needed to graduate so the college could predict the course demand.
Every graduating senior who needed a class to graduate got what he or she needed in order to graduate on time, Perry said.
But whether they graduate on time or not, reaching that point has not always been easy, as attested to by Elerath and others.
"I had a lot of trouble getting the classes I needed this semester," said Jen Stern, a business administration and marketing senior. "When I tried to register through RSVP, all of my classes were full and I was referred to the department where I was put on a waiting list."
Stern added that one of her class times was changed three times without notification to her from an 11 a.m. class to an 8 a.m. class.
A positive outlook
By contrast, not every student in the business college - cohort and non-cohort - is in conflict with the system.
Sarah Niles, a marketing senior said in the past she had been placed on the waiting list for classes but this year was not much of a problem for her.
Dan Weiss, a marketing junior, said that he had no trouble getting the classes he needed even though he was not in the cohort system - however, he said he didn't think he missed out by not being in the cohort system.
"I like being able to make my own schedule and register myself," he said.
Steve Myrose, a business management junior enrolled in the cohort system, said he thought it made it easier to register but he did not really like being with the same people all the time.
Melissa Provenzano, a marketing junior, agreed with Myrose that there are some advantages and disadvantages to the cohort system.
Provenzano said she doesn't really like the cohort system, but likes being in the same classroom every day and not having to register for classes.
Perry said after this year the problem with the seniors should be gone, because everybody will be enrolled in the cohort system - which she said is better than the old system.
"The students are guaranteed enrollment and guaranteed not to have two exams on the same day," Perry said.
She added that the students enrolled in the cohort system develop more of a sense of community.
"When students have an issue they want to talk about a lot more students come in to my office," Perry said. "More students participate in team projects because they know people in their classes."
And ultimately, she said, the goal of business students is most frequently reached.
"We have the highest number of students who sign up for the Finish in Four program," Perry said. "When students finish in five, it is almost always the result of a double major."
With registration for fall 2001 in March, now is the time for exiting seniors to let the college know their concerns and remaining courses.
"What we really want is for graduating business students in December to give us good data," Perry said. "That way we don't have this problem again."
Emily Severson can be reached at Emily.Severson@wildcat.arizona.edu.
