Cal
State schools open admission doors to
Gulf Coast students
By
Cristina Madrid
Daily Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, displaced victims desire to resume to a normal
life but are unable to due to the destruction. In particular, Gulf Coast Universities
are turning to California State Universities, including Cal State Long Beach,
to help students from the affected region continue their schooling.
According to a memorandum sent to all CSU presidents last Thursday, students
from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have the opportunity of completing
their fall semester at participating CSUs.
Already, 39 Gulf Coast University students have called CSULB requesting permission
to enter into this semester, said Tom Meyers, a spokesperson of Enrollment
Services.
Of those 39, 10 have been admitted and half of the students have
yet to reach California to make the Sept. 19 deadline in order to be admitted
to the campus for the fall semester, Meyers said. In addition, those students
can attend school during the spring semester and register after the deadline.
Because many of the Gulf Coast Universities cannot provide necessary documentation
of previous credits due to damage to or destruction of their facilities, students
are being admitted on the spot, Meyers said.
The procedures that students from the affected region must go through in order
to be admitted to the campus are similar to those of regular students, except
students will automatically be admitted. They must fill out an application
and are then taken to Enrollment Services to proceed with registering for classes.
The only post-action required by students is that they eventually show transcripts
to the college to receive credit for classes taken on campus, Meyers said.
These southern state universities may not have the required documentation necessary
to provide universities assisting in this crisis of the student’s performance,
so various admission requirements are being waived for this special circumstance,
according to the memorandum.
These waived requirements include suspending Executive Order 336, which normally
denies student admission if registering after the late registration date; suspending
required documentation of completed the general education A through G category
courses for freshmen; suspending required documentation from transfer students
showing they have completed required courses of mathematics/quantitative reasoning,
English composition, oral communication, and critical thinking; waiving English
and mathematics placement tests; and waiving the non-resident fees.
An admission priority system was established giving first priority to California
residents, who had previously planned to attend institutions in the Gulf regions.
However, students of the Gulf region who were offered CSU admission, former
CSU students that enrolled in Katrina affected areas, and any student who can
document fall 2005 admission to any college within the afflicted area could
attend, according to the memorandum.
All the students requesting to attend CSULB were previous California residents.
The majority of the student requests are coming from New Orleans, but one of
the 39 student requests is from Mississippi, Meyers said.
In terms of housing, Stan Olin, director for resident housing, said there are
no vacancies, due to a long waitlist of residing students wishing to live on-campus.
However,
off-campus housing is always an option for these relief victims, he said. And
for students who may not be able to afford either option, 16 local
residents have offered to open their homes to hurricane victims, Meyers said.
If students cannot attend CSULB, other CSU campuses such as Bakersfield, Chico,
Dominguez Hills, East Bay, Humboldt, Los Angeles and Sacramento have confirmed
that they will be academically aiding students affected by Hurricane Katrina.
The overall relief effort has been an appropriate and well-coordinated effort
by the seven participating CSUs and residents.
“Long Beach should be very proud of itself,” Meyers said. |
