Editorial: Students are not at fault in this snafu

Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003 | 9:06 a.m.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the two-year community colleges are all part of Nevada's higher education system, a linkage that many students find advantageous. Community colleges are less expensive than the university and are often closer to students' homes. Students can attend community college for the first two years and transfer their credits to the university, where they will start as juniors.

At least that's the way it's supposed to work. Many community college students are now finding that courses they spent time completing might not be accepted at UNLV after all. This means that if they transfer after two years, they will not have enough credits to be full juniors. Their bachelor's degree may take them an extra semester or two to earn.

This stress on students originated when UNLV recently changed its education requirements. Even though the changes came about during meetings attended by a community college representative, no one considered the impact on transfer students. Students are grimly discovering that their education will cost them more time and money than anticipated. University and Community College of Southern Nevada officials are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the issue.

One solution would be to make the new education requirements effective with incoming community college students, and allow the ones already enrolled to proceed according to their original plans. For the long term, the solution must be better coordination. This isn't the first time that students have been victimized by miscommunication between UNLV and CCSN. The college has been making headlines lately with its personnel controversies. But what's far more important are its students. Never again should changes be made without considering their impact on every single student.