San Diego Assemblyman Marty Block is once again criticizing San Diego State University for changing its admission policy last year. Now he’s proposing a legislative fix.
Block was an SDSU professor for more than 20 years before his time in the state legislature. He says he still can't believe the university decided to end its longtime practice of guaranteeing local students admission so long as they met minimum California State University requirements.
“I think its outrageous,” Block said.
Block is pushing for a legislative fix that would force SDSU to reverse its decision. It would also require all other CSU campuses to preserve their local student guarantee policies.
Block says if his legislation is approved, policy changes in the future would have to be made in the open, leaving students plenty of time to figure out a backup plan. He says that's something SDSU also failed to do.
“These decisions are affecting lives and they are decisions made by a state university. It is unforgivable these decisions are made behind closed doors,” Block said.
CSU officials agree community input is needed, but they don’t believe campuses like SDSU should be forced to cater to their local student populations. Alison Jones, CSU assistant vice chancellor for student academic affairs, says Cal State universities are not community colleges.
“We are not local campuses. We serve the state population across California. The taxpayers across the state support the 23 campuses. This is why we are opposed to his legislation,” Jones said.
CSU officials say SDSU is one of the most heavily impacted CSU campuses. Scaling back on local enrollment was the only way to deal with the influx of students and budget cuts to higher education. Jones points out SDSU has maintained other admission programs giving preference to local students.
