We're darn near full

Cal State Long Beach will reach its enrollment capacity of roughly 25,000 full-time equivalency students by fall 2002, according to budget recommendations sent to President Robert Maxson last week.

The number of full-time equivalency students at campus capacity translates into approximately 34,000 full-time and part-time students.

Approximately 31,000 students are projected for enrollment this fall.

Capacity enrollment at the campus will result in more stringent  requirements for freshman applicants from outside the CSULB area, and create tougher criteria for students competing for slots in popular majors, according to university officials.
 It will also likely result in year-round classes for some programs and additional courses taught via the Internet, officials said.

"We're victims of our own success," said Alan Nishio, associate vice president of student services and a member of the resource planningThe projected enrollment cap is being attributed to one of the largest influxes of freshmen in the school's history this fall, Nishio said.  Roughly one-third of the additional 1,500 full-time
equivalency students are freshmen, who are helping to bring the campus back to the student levels of the late 1980s.

"That time was not an educational experience any of us want to replicate," Nishio said. "Students weren't able to get classes, weren't able to sit in a chair."

Enrollment management planning has been ongoing to reduce the number of new students and alleviate overcrowding, said David Dowell, director of strategic planning for the university and advisor to the budget task force.

"There was no enrollment management plan in place (in the '80s) and services to students suffered," Dowell said. "The campus is committed to maintaining quality of services to students as we grow this time."

"Impacted" majors, those with the maximum number of enrolled students, will set new requirements for incoming students, depending upon demand, according to Nishio.

Nishio said approximately 10 majors on campus are impacted, including psychology, social work, graphic design, film and electronic arts, nursing and specific physical education majors such as kinesiology.

According to Keith Polakoff, associate vice president of academic affairs, the university has difficulty budgeting for popular majors because they are cyclical.

"Freshmen on average change majors twice once they
get here," Polakoff said. "It becomes very difficult to predict the impact on different departments. This is not a new phenomenon."

According to Dowell, the Chancellor's Office is likely to eventually require that some programs go onto year-round operation, especially high-demand majors. In addition, the campus plans to increase distance education opportunities such as Internet courses to alleviate crowded classrooms.

All three university officials said they believe the high freshman enrollment numbers are due to the university gaining a measure of prestige in recent years with such innovations as the President's Scholar program.