Since the university’s announcement of the Nine Semesters in Residence (9SiR) program in 2012, the course of the school year has changed dramatically for both students and faculty. Deans, department chairs, and individual faculty members have organized curriculum to help students reach their academic goals in efficient and fair ways. Over a year later, this new graduation policy has seen many successes due to the campus-wide effort to integrate the change.
In a forum last year, President Steven C. Wheelwright stated, “We must continually find ways to live up to the imperatives given to us as a university, to continue to improve quality, continue to lower costs, and serve more students.” These standards for improving the quality of education, while providing more opportunities for current and future students, led to the development of the new graduation policy.
Through the program, students graduating in 2014 and beyond complete their education at BYU–Hawaii within nine semesters instead of the traditional eight semesters over a period of four years, saving time and money for students, the university, and the LDS Church. “Typical private undergraduate tuition in the U.S. is close to $30,000 for two semesters, making the typical undergraduate experience a heavy burden for students,” explains Jennifer Lane, associate academic vice president for curriculum. “Because of the heavily subsidized tuition at BYU–Hawaii, students do not bear the full cost of their education, both in terms of what the Church pays and the opportunity cost of preventing others from attending. When you think about how the traditional undergraduate experience often comes with a great deal of student debt, having nine semesters of Church-sponsored education offers more benefits than many may appreciate or even realize.”
Marilee Ching, academic advising manager for the university, describes the policy as a “policy of fairness.” “Nine semesters was chosen as a fair amount of semesters when considering that the standard bachelor's degree in the United States can be done in eight semesters,” she says. “In addition, the university set up a very generous grandfathering procedure as the policy was initially implemented and now has a very smooth appeals process in place for those who find themselves in a situation needing an extra semester.”
Ching also points out that the policy allows the university to accept more student applications every school year. “New students may not be aware that one of the reasons we could accept them in the first place is because other students have planned carefully and finished within their allotted time rather than staying an extra one or more semesters,” she says.
This policy also has more flexibility in student planning than a three-year graduation policy. The nine semesters do not have to be back-to-back, and students can choose to attend at least one Summer semester, with housing and scholarship incentives for attending more. Also, internships and semesters done online, not in residence, do not count toward the nine. This allows a student to make time for an internship, summer job, or Church mission while still getting their degree in nine semesters.
Sayaka Wada, a sophomore from Japan studying Hospitality and Tourism Management, attended BYU–Hawaii before her mission to Brazil. Upon returning, she altered her academic schedule to fit the new graduation policy. At first, she was concerned about the change. “Since English is not my first language, I sometimes worry about whether I can pass classes or not,” she said, “so I feel a lot of pressure because I may not be able to retake classes.” Despite her original apprehension, she has found the nine semester policy to be a great change. “I think it is a great policy because everyone focuses on studying, and if people graduate in nine semesters, there will be a lot more opportunities for others to come and study at BYU–Hawaii.”
To meet the challenges of the new policy, students have developed new work and study habits, managing to juggle their schoolwork and personal lives to achieve their academic goals. “Change is hard,” Ching admits. “The key is to plan carefully, so the advisors’ doors are open. We’re ready to help students make those plans.”
Siaosi Mataele, a recent graduate from California, worked closely with his academic advisor and professors to devise a plan to balance his life as a full-time father, husband, employee, and student. Through his experience, he developed a deep sense of gratitude for the work ethic he learned as a student. “The education that I received here at BYU–Hawaii exceeded my expectations. Thank you for stretching us with the nine-semester policy. It allowed me and my peers to tighten up our bootstraps and work harder.”
Read more about Nine Semesters in Residence at https://academics.byuh.edu/9sir.
To contact an academic advisor, visit http://advisors.byuh.edu/.