I address to the university in general because I lack the knowledge of whom I should blame. Maybe myself, for I, like many other students, have not taken the time to read the fine print in the SHSU Course Catalog.
If I did, perhaps I would have read these two sentences; “The University reserves the right to change curricula, rules, fees, and other requirements, of whatever kind, affecting students. The provisions of this catalog do not constitute a contract, express or impliead, between any applicant, student, or faculty member and Sam Houston State University or its Board of Regents.”
I was pretty sure when I signed up for ENG 165 I knew what I was taking. My friends took the class; in fact my friend is in the same class this semester with the same professor I had. Yet here I am, a lab rat. Myself and twenty other students have been put in an experiment. Somewhere someone yet again asked a question, “What if we make the English class half of a semester and give them speech the other half?”
Let me go ahead and tell you what happens. You get an angry class. We have one of the funniest and most entertaining professors for the class, which for a student not majoring in a subject stuck in a core class is both a pleasure and a relief (so much so that professors of this caliber can pull students into their major).
Yet we lose knowledge. Our final research paper ties in all previous papers written over the semester. Normally four papers, ours will be one; we don’t have time for more. Seems to me like I’m missing out on a lot here.
As students, we don’t like having our education experimented on and the knowledge that our class is one of only a few 165 classes this semester this has happened to is disheartening. While our professor is obligated to avoid his feelings on the subject, as a former educator, I can not fathom an appreciation for having your class cut up and taken apart.
He is placed in a difficult situation, in condensing his course, choosing what he will try to cram in and being the one dealing with a class continually upset by the knowledge that we are trying to get a semesters’ worth of knowledge in half the amount of time. I have yet to begin the speech portion, but I can not imagine a professor happy with this situation or able to guarantee the usual quality of education he or she would prefer.
Sam Houston State administrator who thought this was a good idea, please allow me to express the outrage of an entire class, which could have been avoided by a little notice, perhaps an asterisk with a note as follows: “This class will be a split English and Speech class, still completing your ENG 165 requirement.” Sixteen words: polite, informative, and dare I say necessary.