Requirement changes approved

GENERAL EDUCATION COURSES CUT BACK On Nov. 19,
the Academic Senate will vote whether to approve the following
proposal, which would reduce the number of GE courses from 14 to
10. SOURCE: Governance Committee ADAM LEVITT

By Noah Grand
Daily Bruin Reporter

A proposal to reduce the number of required general education
classes and to increase most classes from four to five units has
been approved by both the Undergraduate Council and the Faculty
Executive Committee of the Academic Senate.

Should both the faculty and legislative assembly also approve
the proposal, the total number of required GE courses for College
of Letters & Science students would decrease from 14 to 10.

The minimum number of GE units required would decrease from 56
to 48. Also, all GE courses, with the exception of a few science
courses without a lab or discussion component, would increase to
five units under this proposal.

David Rodes, chair of the GE Governance Committee, said this
unit change reflects a more general change throughout UCLA.

“Our focus is to try and renovate all general
education,” Rodes said.

The new requirements would apply to freshmen entering in fall
2002, but they will not affect transfer students until 2004 to
allow time for community colleges to change their transfer programs
and counseling recommendations, said Karen Rowe, chair of the
Faculty Executive Committee.

The proposal would divide general education into three
foundations: arts and humanities, society and culture, and
scientific inquiry.

Currently, students must take four courses in the humanities and
social sciences. The proposal would cut one class from each of
these two areas. It would also cut science requirements from six
classes to four.

Rowe said many faculty members believe the changes have already
been approved, though the proposal won’t head to a faculty
vote until Nov. 19.

The results of the faculty vote will be reported by the
undergraduate council on Dec. 7. If approved, the proposal will
then go to the legislative assembly for a final vote in February
2002.

“My sense is that there is widespread support for the
proposal already,” Rowe said. “Last year, even before
it received final, formal approval, there had been widespread
support from departments.”

But some professors stress the importance of general education
and feel the number of required GE classes should not be
reduced.

“It’s very good for students to get some more
general knowledge and experience with different disciplines,”
said Michael Mann, a sociology professor.

Mann, one of the professors teaching the History of Modern
Thought GE cluster this year, said university students and
professors are getting too specialized and that both would benefit
from a broader general education.

While the current proposal requires students to take four
science classes, this was originally set at three when the GE
Governance Committee first discussed the proposal in March. But
many science professors were upset with the cuts in the
sciences.

“We feel like if GE (requirements are) cut in half (in the
sciences) that it would be an inadequate background for students to
have a knowledge of science,” Nancy Purtill, organismic
biology, ecology and evolution counselor, said at the time.

A special work group of science faculty members convened in
April and May to discuss this and other problems related to GE
science courses.

The GE Governance Committee and science work group reached a
compromise during the summer, requiring students to take four
science classes ““ two each in the physical and life sciences.
One class from each group must be a five-unit course with a lab,
discussion, field work or writing II component.

Because some science GE classes and all GE classes in other
areas will be increasing the number of units, they must be
recertified by the Faculty Executive Committee.

In unit recertification, a department must describe how much
work is involved inside and outside of class to justify their
proposal. The guideline used measures one unit as equivalent to
three hours of time spent per week, both inside and outside the
classroom.

“Classes need to be revised while reuniting takes place.
You need to rethink the course,” Rodes said.

These classes will need to be recertified as acceptable GE
courses, according to the new guidelines.

“Of the 500 GE courses on the books, many have not been
looked at in many, many years,” Rodes said.

Because GE classes need to be recertified, Rowe expects some old
GE classes to go away and new classes to be created. She said
departments are already working on making the changes needed to
comply with the changed GE.

No changes will be submitted until after the proposed GE change
is approved. Rowe said all decisions on course changes can be made
in time for the proposed fall 2002 implementation.