Associated Students Inc. and the California State Student Association are both challenging an executive order that would make major changes to the California State University class retake policy.

The order, which is part of the CSU’s “Facilitating Graduation Initiative,” would restrict which classes students are allowed to retake to only those in which they received less than a C- grade.

Erik Fallis, a media relations specialist for the CSU, said the goal of the initiative is to “remove some of the impediments students face on the road to graduation.”

And yet, by not allowing students to repeat classes where they received Cs, the CSU is placing a heavy burden on students who want to continue their education after earning a bachelor’s degree.

The four or five years we spend in college is a long time, and a lot of personal growth can take place during our years in the university system. Slackers can turn into exceptional students and then be left with no way of making up for their past mistakes. Students whose lives get complicated in the middle of a school year could have their future career hopes negated by the CSU’s new policy. Nontraditional students, who have to work or take care of a family while attending classes, could be punished for the responsibilities they have outside of school.

“If the load of your schedule is too heavy, lighten the load by dropping the course prior to the deadline,” Fallis said.

According to Sacramento State’s Public Affairs website, the cost of taking seven or more units is $1,927 per semester; taking six units or less costs $1,288 per semester.

Nontraditional students, by lightening their course load, would spend a longer time in school than traditional students.

But there is an honest intent to CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed’s executive order. It aims at lowering the amount of money California’s government spends on students who retake classes. Both ASI and CSSA sympathize with the economic struggle that California is engaged in.

But both groups also have the foresight to see that restricting students’ ability to retake classes could greatly affect their ability to get into graduate-level programs.

With this order, CSU seems to be focusing on the short term goal of “facilitating graduation” when it should be concentrating on real education.

David Loret de Mola can be reached at [email protected]