Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Issue date: 7/25/08 Section: News

Media Credit: WAC Athletics Some incoming freshman who applied for on-campus housing late will begin the semester on a paid waiting list.

SJSU will admit more first-time freshmen this fall than it previously expected, despite the failure of 515 incoming freshmen to complete the enrollment process on the university's online student system, MySJSU, said Pat Lopes Harris, SJSU media relations specialist.

In May, 1,057 high school seniors who were accepted to SJSU were notified that their applications were being withdrawn because they had not signed up for student orientation. About half of those students had planned on attending SJSU, while the other half consisted of students who chose to attend other universities, Lopes Harris said.

After receiving letters through U.S. mail, a handful of students and parents called and showed up to the SJSU Student Affairs office to say they had planned on enrolling at SJSU but were unaware of the three-step intent-to-enroll process on MySJSU.

"Most of them felt like they had done what they needed to do, and they were frustrated when they received the letter," said Veril Phillips, SJSU's vice president of Student Affairs. "And some were very delighted when they found out they would in fact be admitted."

Don Kassing, who remains SJSU president until Aug. 1, made the decision to admit those students because some were "counting on" attending SJSU, Lopes Harris said.

"That was the deciding point for him, that if these students really wanted to come here, let's see what we can do," she said.

Lopes Harris added that the governor's proposed budget, which was revised in May, was "more generous" to the California State University than had previously been assumed.

She said the challenge is with Academic Affairs to provide space in classes for the 3,850 first-time freshmen during the Fall semester.

"At this point, I think every effort is being made to make sure that everybody is accommodated with their classes," she said, "but it is going to be difficult."

Kevina Brown, community relations coordinator for University Housing Services, said she expects to open the semester with a paid waiting list for on-campus housing.

"We made it a point to get the word out early that if they wanted to live on campus, they needed to sign up early," she said.

Continued...

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