Faculty strike affects high school students
College Credit Plus enrollees have had some classes canceled.
The three-week-old Wright State faculty strike has affected some local high school students who take College Credit Plus classes through WSU, while other CCP students are attending classes as usual.
College Credit Plus is a statewide program that allows high school students to take college courses and earn high school and college credit simultaneously. The goal is to help more students earn degrees by cutting the time and cost of completing college.
Some Beavercreek College Credit Plus students have told their high school counselors that their Wright State classes have been canceled, Beavercreek schools spokesman Ryan Gilding said late Friday night.
Wright State spokesman Seth Bauguess had said Wednesday that the fully canceled classes were specialized, higher-level courses. On Saturday morning, he acknowledged that “some CCP students have been affected by WSU class changes.” Neither Bauguess nor Gilding provided the number of affected classes.
Beavercreek officials told their CCP students in an email that if Wright State cancels a class that is required for the student’s high school graduation, “there will be options here at Beavercreek High School to obtain that credit.”
Both Beavercreek and Fairborn school officials said some of their CCP students are enrolled in
Wright State classes where there has been no professor to teach the material. Fairborn staff said some students withdrew from Wright State classes before the CCP deadline to avoid a penalty.
“(We’ve been) assisting students with placement in other WSU classes that are still being held, assisting students with placements in other institutions of higher learning, and enrolling students in high school classes,” said Fairborn High School assistant principal Deb Hauberg.
But the situation varies from school to school. Oak- wood High School counselor Adam Woessner called WSU “a wonderful partner insti- tution,” adding that he has “seen no issues or dip in the quality education they are providing our students.”
Some high schools said their current WSU students are not having problems but added that others with- drew from Wright State just before the semester began. The faculty union filed a strike notice Jan. 7, and the first day of classes wasn’t until Jan. 14, giving students time to quickly adjust.
Centerville schools Super- intendent Tom Henderson said about five students made that move in his district and switched to Sinclair for their College Credit Plus courses just before the semester. That also occurred in Huber Heights schools, according to district officials.
Some WSU full-semester classes are being condensed into the seven-week “B Term” that runs from March 11 to April 27. Communications sent to students said those courses will include some required online assignments to complete all the work in half the time. Beavercreek’s email Thursday encouraged its CCP students to take the B Term option if WSU offered it.
Some who earn CCP credit through WSU are totally unaffected — with Fairmont High School’s calculus students an example — because their classes are taught by approved high school faculty at the high school.