I think the most important prerequisite, the one that was never disclosed, is the ability to navigate through a complex and often senseless bureaucracy while accepting the inevitable absurdities as normal and even necessary. Perhaps it’s meant to weed out people who think it could be improved and might actually have ideas to do just that.

If I get the right story, I’ll write on the absurdities of college at some point.

Here is an issue that you might want to write on… I have been trying to get the governor’s office of our state (Oregon) interested in the issue. It centers on prerequisite class requirements for programs within the state. This problem seems to be nationwide and is a tool used to jack up the cost of schooling in the various states. With students in California protesting over the cost of schooling going up 32 percent at the University’s in California (UC’s) this obviously a problem that is gathering momentum. To illustrate the specific problem, here is an example.

My daughter Holly (Not her real name) determined that she wanted to go to nursing school. She did some checking and found that Chemeketa Junior College in Salem Oregon had the best program in the State. Even though she was coming in from out of the area, she wanted to go to the best; so she enrolled and struck out to achieve the prereq’s required under the CJC’s Nursing program. The CJC program required that she achieve a 3.7 grade point average or better during the 2 years it would take to fulfill the requirement. She did that coming in at 3.87. However when program enrollment came up, she applied and found that since she was coming in from out of the area, she would be penalized 5 points. The program is quite popular and she couldn’t get in that year but did make an alternates list. Although they did select from the alternates list they didn’t reach her. So now the dilemma. She has obtained a deferral from having to pay on the school loans as long as she is in school. Does she stay and wait for the following year or does she look at other colleges in the area (within one hour) who actually have openings in their programs. She elects to try and get into one of the other programs but upon researching the issue, she learns that every state sponsored program has different prereq’s incorporated into the program. Holly starts in obtaining the classes to get into our own local Linn-Benton Community College (Albany Oregon) program… generating more costs in classroom tuition, books, traveling and more school loans. However, while she is trying to obtain all the new prereqs for this program, they open up the nursing program for applicants. Holly can’t apply and will have to wait a year to be considered for this 2nd program. She finishes the prereq’s and faces another dilemma. Does she wait again for either of these two programs to reopen, or does she investigate additional prereq requirements for a third program. Which would again mean incurring more costs… tuition’s, books etc…

Her research showed that there are programs around the state with openings but this time she decides to get a job to pay the payments on the loans and wait it out. She discusses with me whether she should consider another career.

3 years from the date of her completing the original prereq’s with a good grade point average she is invited into the original Chemekata program mainly because the program removes the out of district penalty after the third application.

It seems sad that because of the arrogance of the academic community in setting prereqs for these programs we challenge and penalize our young men and women for daring to apply to the better programs and when there isn’t enough room, we again hit them in the pocket book and place barriers in front of them to obtain an education in a high demand occupation.

It would seem that at the State level, there could be some kind of consensus to make all the Prereqs the same and allow the academics to set the grade point standards only.

Naturally, and I want to stress this. Once the students are accepted into the specific programs the teachers should be allowed to control the actual practical training programs. It is only the prereqs that I wish to standardize to lower the costs and reduce the amount of time that we take to turn out good quality nurses and reduce the frustration our students face as well as the costs incurred.

There is a corresponding issue that jacks up the costs of our programs, and that is concerning the costs of books. Books that are used in Prereq classes need to be standardized. One student took a chem class and paid $187.00 for the books. She took the class over to raise her grade point average and found that the Teacher called out a new set of books… The cost $470.00. Absolutely unacceptable. The cost of Books amongst the schools are driven up because sometimes the books selected are only acceptable at that college. Naturally it makes sense that if we standardize the texts, we will drive down costs simply due to the quatities ordered from publishers. Respective politicians need to become the catalysts for calling the schools together and standardizing prereqs and the texts to be used. Keep in mind that I again am talking about Prereq’s only.

So there you have it… a fathers frustration and tail of whoa in watching his daughter deal with a disjointed system of education. It would seem that with the demand so high in these particular fields, we would want our schools to turn out good quality nurses as fast and inexpensive as possible and to do that it only requires that someone bring the factions together to sit down and draw a consensus on required Prereq’s and texts used. Likewise the faster we can move these students into the Job market, the faster they become contributing tax payers that help the schools out down line.

But one must wonder what teachers and academics are doing within the bounds of other programs like Engineering , CAD, Computer, Automotive, Machinist, Police, Fireman and other programs. Could they likewise be standardized to limit costs and frustration for students.

Britton Jones
Scio, Oregon

The words “Gay” and “Blade” above brought it all back.

That’s all I got for this story.