'Challenge 45' degree restructuring near completion after almost half of College majors reduce the number of required courses
Changing degree requirements
12
Number of majors revised for the fall
50
Total number of majors that have undergone revisions
9
Number of majors awaiting a decision
SOURCE: The Office of Undergraduate Education
By Shoshee Jau
Sept. 16, 2011 2:59 p.m.
With only nine more decisions to make, the College of Letters and Science is nearing the close of a three-year challenge to evaluate and restructure its major requirements.
Beginning in the fall, revisions for 12 majors within the College, including English, communications studies and geology, will take effect.
Introducing different combinations of core classes and fewer upper-division requirements, the majors will be sporting a new look to give students greater flexibility and focus, said Kyle McJunkin, academic administrator for shared governance and curricular initiatives.
“Challenge 45,” an initiative introduced by the UCLA Division of Undergraduate Education, was proposed in 2008 as a means to reduce excess upper-division requirements. The initiative encouraged departments to cut their upper-division requirements to around 45 units, and called for an examination and update of the components of their curricula.
Since then, 50 majors have undergone revisions, while 46 have decided to keep their requirements unchanged. Of the 105 majors in the College, only nine more await a decision from faculty.
“It feels good to see faculty taking the curriculum very seriously, to be so thoughtful and deliberate in figuring out what they’re going to teach students,” McJunkin said.
The growing number of faculty members contributed to the need for re-evaluation, said Judith Smith, dean and vice provost for undergraduate education. As more faculty members entered departments, the number of courses taught, and subsequently major requirements, paralleled the growth, she said.
With more upper-division requirements, students struggled to finish coursework for their majors, leaving little time to take electives and explore different interests, Smith said.
“(Challenge 45) was not driven by budget issues, but first by a concern that our undergraduate curricula was just meeting the needs of the faculty,” she said.
A smaller, more focused set of requirements increases the number of required courses offered each year and grants flexibility to students, who will have the option of taking other courses in addition to those within their major, McJunkin said.
Fifth-year American literature and culture and Chicana/o studies student Armando Bustos said the new requirements for the American literature and culture major will allow him extra time to pursue his double major.
With the ability to choose from a wider range of upper-division courses, Bustos said he can simultaneously explore his interests and fulfill requirements under the new major.
“I like the new major because it helps me takes classes that I’m interested in, and I tend to do better in them,” Bustos said. “And because you’re interested in (the classes), they open up new ideas and bring you to explore other topics too.”
Revising their curricula involved a great deal of thought within some departments, which took the challenge to trim as a way to redefine the emphasis of their majors, said José Passos, associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese.
“We have integrated course offerings to cover comparative topics,” said Passos, who helped revise the Portuguese major for this fall. “We wanted a more flexible and interdisciplinary major that not only focuses on language and literature, but also film and cultural studies.”
The women’s studies major will also introduce revisions this fall. Through the changes, the major hopes to create a stronger sense of unity for its students by emphasizing its core classes and bringing all of its ladder faculty, or tenured professors, into undergraduate courses, said Juliet Williams, associate professor and vice chair for undergraduate studies in the department of women’s studies.
“We have conceptualized the major and ways of bringing the requirements into line with the three decades of really exciting, transformational scholarship,” Williams said.
Through surveys, town hall meetings and student evaluations, departments have used a variety of methods to gather student input prior to making revisions.
As new requirements are introduced, counselors will continue to help students adjust to the change, McJunkin said.
