University goes on wellness class diet

     GCSU’s phase-in of the Board of Regents policy that limits Georgia universities from counting wellness and orientation classes toward earned hours for degree requirements is complete.
     As of December 2007, GCSU is enforcing the longstanding policy that states students can take these classes, but when the school goes to calculate graduation earned hours these hours are subtracted from the total.
     Students are still permitted to take wellness classes and are credited for the hours. As for orientation classes, known commonly as Freshman Seminar, they are still required in order to graduate.
     The registrar is currently working on many ways to inform students and faculty of the change. The registrar notified everyone through the school e-mail of the changes and how they would be enforced. They are now working on putting notes in the online registration databases. The registrar will provide more info of the situation starting this summer.
     Although these classes no longer have a direct impact on students’ education, Kay Anderson still encourages students to enroll in the classes.
     “Anytime a student has the opportunity to learn more information and skills it is valuable thing,” Anderson said.    “Students should be able to take classes they are interested in. They just need to be careful and plan accordingly.”
     This semester the wellness program offers 18 classes, ranging from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and racquetball, to fitness walking and weight training. Furthermore over 300 students are enrolled in the classes. Wellness Program Coordinator, Amy Whatley, has not seen any drastic shifts since the policy was enacted.
     “I have had more students enroll in my fitness walking and jogging classes than last year,” Whatley said. “Currently both of my fitness walking classes are maxed out as opposed to last semester when only 15 to 18 students were enrolled.”
Whatley also feels wellness is a valuable asset to the university.
     “Wellness is one of the cornerstones of GCSU and students should not be penalized for taking them,”  Whatley said.
Students also believe wellness classes are still worth taking. Senior psychology major Thomas Crawford took racquetball last semester and enjoyed the experience.
     “The class was a chance to get out and do something that you would not normally do,” Crawford said. “When I took racquetball, it was something new to me that I was interested in learning to expand my horizons.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 18 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry