Next summer will see the start of a new remedial program called the Early Start program across all CSU campuses.

This program, mandated through executive order 1048, is “designed to facilitate a student’s graduation through changes in policies on fulfilling entry-level proficiencies in mathematics and English.”

Targeted towards incoming freshmen who need to take remedial classes, students will be required to begin remediation before the fall semester or quarter starts, and must achieve proficiency on or before the end of their first year of enrollment at a CSU campus.

“The earlier we can reach these students, the better chance they have at success,” stated Herbert L. Carter, Chair of the CSU Board of Trustees, earlier this year.

Those who have initiated the program feel it has the potential to dramatically decrease the need for remediation during a student’s collegiate experience.

“Numerous studies have shown that the sooner students can be brought up to proficiency levels, the better the chances for their ultimate success,” said Ephraim Smith, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer for the CSU, according to a press release sent earlier this year.

As over 60 percent of incoming freshmen at Cal State East Bay must take some form of remedial classes, according to the CSUEB Early Start program plan, there is a great need to address this issue.

“It’s a product of the urban schools. Most of our students come from the Bay Area, and many of them did not have a great K-12 experience,” said Kim Geron, a political science professor at CSUEB.

“Our challenge is to take who’s been accepted and get them up to college level as quickly as we can.”

While the program addresses chronic issues within California’s education system, educators across the CSU system have found it difficult to comply with the Early Start program.

Many faculty members working with remedial students believe this mandatory program will just add on to the costs of students and won’t accomplish much in terms of decreasing the number of remedial students entering into the fall quarter.

“I do not believe this program will be effective. I definitely don’t think it will be more effective than what we already do,” said Margaret Rustick, an associate professor in the English Department and coordinator for the Composition program, which includes remedial classes. “If we don’t have it our students would be fine. They aren’t going to improve in any way that’s measurable and that’s going to reduce their time in remediation.”

According to Rustick, most faculty either disagree with the program or see it as an additional program can only help those who enter the remedial program at CSUEB, though she doesn’t “know any faculty who think this is going to solve a problem.”

CSUEB’s plan for the Early Start program highlights several additional concerns, including extra fiscal costs, discouragement of “at risk” student from attending college, reduced remediation success, and lower first-time freshman enrollment, among several others.

The faculty has been joined by the Academic Senate and the California Faculty Association (CFA) in their dislike of the program and  the Board of Trustees’ response to their professional opinion.

“[Carter] and the Board of Trustees have decided to override the faculty sentiments and advice on this and to push it through anyway. That puts faculty in a very difficult position, and it’s something that I’m particularly concerned about as a member of the Senate,” said Susan Gubernat, one of CSUEB’s two representatives on the state-wide Academic Senate.

“This [program] is not really consulting the experts and getting their input,” said Geron, explaining CFA’s stance on the issue. “Even though faculty has complained, they just kind of said, ‘Well too bad, we’re just going to do it.’ That’s what we find problematic.”

In general, the CFA and other concerned parties have been posing questions and recommendations to the CSU Board of Trustees, as well as educate the larger community about the summer program.

On Oct. 27, a panel was put together by CFA representative Pat Jennings for students to become more educated.

After three presentations from different CSUEB faculty members, a question and answer period was opened up to the audience, where students shared their experiences in remedial classes and questions about the program.

Overall, the students seemed to reflect the frustration felt by the faculty.

“I think the students right now probably don’t know very well what’s going on,” reflected Rustick. “The students on our campus aren’t affected by it but I have talked to them about the program in general and what that might mean for the students coming in next year.”

As the program will begin next summer barring none, educators who disagree with the initiative are forced to comply.

“It’s extremely frustrating to be told to do something that the experts in the field, the people who work with the students every day, don’t agree with and don’t think it’s helpful,” said Rustick. “And to not listen to the advice of the teachers that they hired to do this work. It’s incredibly frustrating.”