New students affected by changes

By Robert Salonga
Daily Bruin Staff

The Academic Senate’s decision in June to increase the
minimum progress requirements for students in the College of
Letters & Science will affect this year’s freshmen class
and the transfer class of 2003.

Students entering the College must now complete a minimum 13
units per quarter. That, and plans to lower the maximum number of
units students can accumulate before graduating, are new policies
aimed at decreasing the average time it takes them to graduate from
13.7 to 13 quarters.

The decrease in time before graduation, according to Vice
Provost of Undergraduate Education Judith Smith, will allow for the
entry of 300 to 400 additional freshmen per year. This need for
extra space is the result of Tidal Wave II, the influx of 60,000
students into the University of California over the next
decade.

For many freshmen, the 13-unit minimum requirement, up one unit
from last year, means having to take four classes their first
quarter, since many general education courses at UCLA are four
units.

All this and further maximum unit caps, have caused first-year
undeclared student Susan Lee to reconsider the types of classes she
had hoped to take.

“(The requirements) might limit the range of classes
I’ll be taking but hopefully, I’ll still be able to
take classes that broaden my horizon outside of my desired
major,” Lee said.

“I think that’s what college is about,” she
continued.

Those who do not meet minimum progress requirements will have a
hold placed on their registration the following quarter. Should
this continue for two consecutive quarters, a student will be
placed on academic probation.

Karen Rowe, chair of the College’s Faculty Executive
Committee, said most first-year students carry an average workload
of 14.7 units per quarter, which already surpasses the new
requirements.

She added that there are a large number of five-unit GE courses
available, including cluster courses and Writing II courses that
L&S students must take. In addition, some science courses offer
up to six units because of laboratory work.

Margaret Tchakerian, counseling assistant coordinator for the
College, said it is too early to tell exactly what kind of effect
the changes will have on student life.

Vice Chancellor of Student and Campus Life and Dean of Students
Robert Naples said the changes might have some initial impact on
incoming students, but he expects them to fully adjust.

“UCLA admits top-quality students who are used to juggling
a lot of responsibilities,” Naples said. “Students will
recognize their first priority is academics and will ultimately get
used to the academic rigors.”

Tchakerian said if students feel they are unable to meet these
minimum progress requirements, they should make an appointment with
a counselor as soon as possible.

“Keep in mind that in some situations where students
can’t meet requirements for legitimate reasons, we will
entertain exceptions,” she said.

To accommodate students facing the changes, Smith said at the
time of approval that all GE classes will be made five units
beginning with the 2002-03 school year. But this has not been
finalized.

According to Rowe, the reason students must wait another year
for the course unit increases to take effect is because the College
is in the process of reforming its general education. The College
hopes to place more emphasis on careful methodology and on how
knowledge is processed rather than simply supplying
information.

It hopes to establish core groups of classes in general areas,
such as art and humanities, designed to prepare students for study
in a related field.

“We hope to provide better ways of knowing and also to set
up a better foundation for disciplinary work,” Rowe said.

In order to do this, the College still has to entertain faculty
input and coordinate efforts between its various departments to
ensure classes with unit increases are assigning similar
workloads.

The Academic Senate is also discussing lowering the maximum
number of units students can accumulate during their college
career, though that number has not been determined. Last year, that
number was 216 units, or 228 for students with a second major or a
minor.

“It makes me rethink whether I will be able to double
major or minor in certain areas,” said Lee, who hopes to
major in communication studies, one of the more impacted majors at
UCLA.

Naples said students should not feel they are being rushed
through the system. He also said the new requirements are not
unreasonable to expect from students who have been high achievers
most of their lives.

“Considering the number of eligible students (in the UC),
we have to move them through efficiently,” he said.
“But no one wants to see that done at the expense of the
extra-collegiate experience that we offer.”