A bachelor’s degree is supposed to take four years, but many SF State students find that earning one can take a lot longer than that.

To address the issue of long, drawn-out college careers, also known as 'The Six-Year Plan', students and faculty members discussed obstacles to graduation at a summit held in the student center last week, stressing communication as key.

“This is a historical summit, a conversation to facilitate graduation,” said Chris Jackson, president of Associated Students Inc. “This panel is here to listen.”

The summit, which was open to all students, consisted of a panel of faculty members who met with students at the conference room tables to discuss the most common problems that impede students’ progress toward graduation and work out solutions.

The event began with an opening speech from Jackson, followed by open discussions in smaller groups. After the discussion, a member of each group presented the main points his or her group had considered.

Among the concerns most commonly mentioned were impacted classes, too few sections of required courses, general education requirements that are too much and too broad, and lack of communication between students and advisers.

Jackson said he believes one of the main problems is that many students do not know about or take advantage of resources available in the Advising Center.

“I truly feel that once we start connecting students with resources, graduation will increase,” he said.

In addition to talking about various roadblocks to graduation, participants discussed strategies that worked or are working for them.

“For me, it was study groups,” said Will Flowers, director of the Career Center. “I had to have other people support me in these groups because I learn differently.”

Flowers also said a revision of general education requirements so they are more suited to each major, and regular meetings between students and general education advisors would both speed up the process.

“Personalized contact can make a significant difference,” he said.

Jamie Domingo, a 22 year-old year senior double-majoring in finance and economics, said careful planning enabled her to progress smoothly toward graduation. Domingo, who will graduate this semester, said she was very deliberate when choosing her classes throughout her college career.

“I really planned it,” she said.

Domingo will have been in college for five years when she graduates and as a double major; she feels she stayed on the right track.

Maire Fowler, ASI vice president of internal affairs and ASI president elect, expressed concern over the effects of budget cuts on education, citing impacted classes and students who are poorly prepared for college upon graduating high school.

“Higher education is in a state of crisis. K-12 education is in a state of crisis,” Fowler said.

Fowler emphasized the need for university administration and faculty support for student causes.

“When students advocate, I would like to see faculty and administration out there, too,” she said.

Chris Jackson hopes the summit will be an annual event. He emphasized the importance of continued communication between students and faculty, citing the summit as an effort to get through one of the barriers to graduation.

“One roadblock is that we never had this discussion before,” Jackson said. “Now we can come up with some serious solutions.”

“You don’t know how happy I am that we’re talking,” he said.