Unit cap limits academic, graduation options
By Colleen Honigsberg
Dec. 7, 2003 9:00 p.m.
Though most students look forward to graduation, fifth-year
student Kendrick Lo is doing all he can to stay an extra quarter at
UCLA.
Lo is five classes away from graduating with a double major in
psychology and economics, but will instead graduate with only a
degree in economics because he is over his unit limit. At the end
of this quarter, he will be at 219 units; his cap is 216.
“I’m not asking to stay six or seven years, I just
want one more quarter. I’m so close,” Lo said.
He is currently listed as an economics and pre-psychology major,
but says the psychology department did not even consider allowing
him into the major since he applied with a high number of
units.
Irina Tauber, a psychology counselor, said because of Lo’s
outstanding number of units, the decision on whether to approve him
as a psychology major was not up to the department.
“The rules said by the (College of) Letters & Science
are that students have to be able to finish everything by the unit
max; each department has to check on that before approving a
major,” she said.
The individual departments are also bound by state legislation
mandating a unit cap be placed in some form at all the University
of California campuses. Once students have exceeded their unit cap,
the state will no longer fund their education.
“Students are admitted with the understanding that they
are entitled to four years,” said Margaret Tchakerian,
assistant director of academic counseling for the College.
If Lo had been able to officially declare the psychology major
he would have been allowed to complete 228 units as a double major.
This unit extension does not apply to students admitted in or after
fall 2001, who must graduate with no more than 216 units even if
they have multiple majors or minors.
Lo came to UCLA without knowing which career path he wanted to
pursue. Though it wasn’t until his third year that he
chose a definite major, Lo said the time and classes it took him to
make up his mind were necessary.
“I think the most important thing about college is
deciding what you want to do. I don’t see how the university
can expect you to make that life-impacting decision right
away,” he said.
Lo has filed several petitions and an appeal. All have been
denied. His last petition was denied a few weeks ago. It was then
he realized he would be graduating this quarter, whether he liked
it or not. Though he is still fighting the denial, he is not
optimistic.
The unit cap is also preventing other students from taking
courses they desire. Matthew Ashtiani, a second-year student who
was admitted into the political science major, wanted to switch to
engineering, but did not do so because he would not have been able
to take all the engineering courses without exceeding the cap.
“I understand the need to educate as many students as
possible, but the unit cap has students caring more about whether
they will finish in time than learning,” he said.
Lo, a student in the Academic Advancement Program, believes
counselors have been discouraging him from pursuing a double major
rather than offering solutions.
“All they told me was, “˜No, don’t do
it.’ They’re not giving me solutions, they’re
just telling me “˜no’,” he said.
But Masai Minters, the director of counseling for AAP, said the
AAP counselors work with their students to help “open
doors.”
“Our counselors are trained to give options ““ we
don’t make their decisions ““ but we try to give them as
many options as possible,” he said. “I can’t
dispute what the student heard, but it’s not what we
do.”
For students who must exceed the unit cap to complete their
necessary courses, Tchakerian recommends a community college. Once
students have 105 quarter units from either a UC or a community
college, they can take courses at a community college for
“subject credit.” The student will receive credit for
having taken the course, but will not receive units.
Lo said he was unaware of this provision. Had he known, he would
“definitely” have taken advantage of it.
After graduating, Lo plans to apply exclusively to business
schools. Originally, when he thought he would be able to double
major, he had planned to apply to both business schools and
graduate programs in psychology.
“My gripe with the administration is that they don’t
realize how much their decisions affect people’s
lives,” he said.
