There is a shift in education rippling across Oregon – one that could lead to Mt. Hood Community College converting some, most or all of it’s course offerings from three to four credits “two catalogs out,” said Beth Pitonzo, executive dean of instruction.

“Because of the fact that our major transfer university, Portland State, as well as the University of Oregon, have converted all of their general education, social science and humanity [courses] to four credits, there has been a movement in community colleges to at least evaluate whether we should [follow suit].”

According to a report released by PCC’s 4-Credit Conversion Committee, Lane, Clackamas and Central Oregon community colleges “are making their curricular process conducive to those disciplines wanting to convert to four [credits].”

The first Oregon community college to switch was Clackamas, said Pitonzo. “If you look in their catalog, you will see all of their writing and humanities and everything is already at four credits.”

On the issue of “why,” reasons vary.

Pitonzo said even though MHCC’s credits still transfer “course-for-course,” there is still a difference in the number of units.

Beth Sammons, a humanities instructor at MHCC, said, “What’s driving this is that many of the [universities] have four-credit classes rather than three-credit classes, and it can be difficult for students to transfer.” She said students who don’t complete their AAOT but try to transfer individual courses to colleges like Portland State may hit roadblocks in the transfer process.

“It can be problematic for students who are trying to transfer three-credit courses into institutions” that have the same class, only at a four-credit level, said Sammons.

This issue, and others, is why Portland Community College decided last year to investigate the switch and “are going to have most, but not all, of their classes converted beginning fall of 2005,” said Pitonzo.

Although MHCC is considering the shift, Pitonzo said the college hasn’t “made a commitment as an institution to make this change.” The college wants to “hear what PCC did, reasons why they did it and how of their Education Advisory Council, found several benefits – and drawbacks – to the conversion.

Of the possible plusses, PCC found that “faculty, as a whole, believed that most students would take fewer courses to meet a full load, and as a result would have a less fragmented college education.”

Some, on the other hand, find reductions in course-load size more implicative.
Sammons illustrated that, if MHCC were to switch, “One option would be to do the dreadful thing of having Writing 121 take part of the material from Writing 122 and become four credits, then have 123 take part of 122 and become four credits – and then you’d have two four-credit classes.

“In terms of the number of credits, it would benefit [students]. In terms of the fact that most students need a full year of composition, it would be a disservice,” said Sammons.
“Let’s say you have a Shakespeare series of three classes,” Sammons explained. “Do you bump each class to four credits, or do you drop one and reshuffle the information? Either way,” she said, “you end up having to do new course outlines, you have to revamp your schedules, and then you have to think about student-contact hours,” explaining that three-credit classes meet 50-minutes a day, three days a week, while four-credit classes meet 50-minutes a day, four days a week. “We’re already busting at the seams between nine o’clock and noon on weekdays.”

PCC’s 4-credit committee believes “a switch to 4-credits would save students money,” though Pitonzo feels “it’s a little preliminary to make any estimates on that.”

The committee also found that “any conversion would help alleviate workload issues rather than exacerbate them.” Their report said, hypothetically, “full-time faculty currently teaching five 3-credit courses would teach four 4-credit courses.”

While this would mean a one-hour increase in classroom contact – from 15 to 16 – it would also mean a “20% reduction in the number of students and one less prep for class,” said the report.

But Sammons thinks the conversion “could mean that some people are teaching at more than a full load, and that some people will have a harder time getting to a full load, and, of course, we’ll have to pay more for people who teach more than a full load.”

“Those are exactly reasons why, you know, we have to have a very broad-based discussion about it. That’s why we’re asking for PCC to come over, thinking that they probably had all these discussions,” said Pitonzo.

Pitonzo said college administrators aren’t leaning in any particular direction concerning the conversion. “I really think everybody is just waiting to have this discussion. I don’t think anybody [settled on] a decision in any way, shape or form. We need to understand and evaluate it as an institution before anybody’s going to – really, you just got to know what you’re dealing with before you make a decision, hopefully.

As to when PCC’s representatives will come to MHCC, Sammons said, “Friday, June 3, from 2 to 4 p.m. in room 1309, there [will be] an initial discussion of how this works, and how it worked for Portland Community College,” said Sammons.

Of plusses, Portland Community College’s Four-Credit Conversion Committee found that:

– Students would get more from their “expensive and underutilized” textbooks because of their semester-based format.

– “The majority of students would be taking fewer courses, so they would need fewer texts per term, and this would help alleviate at least some financial burdens – especially given the prices of some texts,” said the report.

– The conversion would create opportunities for expanded curriculum and experimentation with course content.

Of drawbacks, the committee found that:

– There would be fewer courses overall for part-time faculty with the decrease in sections.

– There might be a decrease in course offerings, since some student might take fewer classes to meet their [general education] transfer requirements, saying, “Even though the counter argument can be offered that students would experience greater breadth and depth in those new 4-credit courses.”

– Students who may see tuition increases include “casual students taking one or two classes without accumulating credits for a degree or certificate.”

– Although PCC’s committee found there would be few problems with regard to classroom space under the conversion, unlike PCC, Mt. Hood’s budget crunch isn’t likely to leave room for large-scale campus expansion. But the committee also said, “Other colleges [are] not experiencing problems with the issue.”