Enforcement of min. progress may be delayed

By Noah Grand
DAILY BRUIN REPORTER
[email protected]

With around 500 freshmen threatened with academic probation, the
Campus Retention Center is asking the College of Letters &
Science for a moratorium on enforcement of minimum progress
requirements.

Otherwise, enforcement would force students to take four classes
per quarter and raise dropout rates, said CRC Chair Antonio
Sandoval.

But the College is already showing leniency this year ““ no
one has been placed on probation, according to college vice-provost
Judith Smith.

Smith, who created the policy, expected around 380 freshmen to
not meet the requirements. The College would not consider a
moratorium unless twice as many students were in danger, she
said.

Under the new requirements, first-year students must take 13
units each quarter and meet an expected progress requirement of 27
units after their first two quarters or “be placed on
probation,” according to the requirement’s text.

This year, students who fail to meet minimum progress are not
being placed on probation, Smith said. Instead, they are asked to
see a counselor and cannot register for classes again until they do
so.

The goal is to look at each student’s situation and make
an individualized contract, because not all students can meet
minimum progress requirements, Smith said.

Ten percent of UCLA’s undergraduate students are expected
to be on these contracts at any given time, she added.

“There’s always going to be a minority who
don’t follow the plan,” Smith said. “This
requirement is for the majority.”

Students usually do not meet the requirements because they
failed or dropped a class, Smith said.

These students probably would not have complied with the old
requirement of 12 units per quarter, but were never noticed before
this year, she added.

All students are recommended to take classes during the summer
along with three classes a quarter during the regular school
year.

Counselors will be able to work with students to solve any
difficulties that arise, Smith said, but Sandoval is more
worried.

“Why are they creating a policy which serves to dismiss
students?” Sandoval asked.

The CRC’s advice to students is based largely on what
academic counselors tell them, but the CRC is unsure how to help
students who can’t keep up with minimum progress
requirements.

Counselors are in charge of teaching incoming freshmen about the
requirements during the summer, Smith said, adding that she was
told by counselors that students understood the requirements.

Some students, however, are unsure what is expected of them.

“I really haven’t understood the whole unit
thing,” said Erika Garcia, a first-year political science
student.

Garcia, who is taking 15 units, said she had to add a fourth
class this quarter to fulfill the requirements.

Taking four classes harms students who must work to pay for
their education or who want to participate in extracurricular
activities, Sandoval said.

Students already having academic difficulties may be forced to
take additional units they cannot handle, he added.

Smith said other UC students manage to balance taking 13 units
per quarter with extracurricular activities and questioned why UCLA
students shouldn’t be able to achieve a similar balance.

“We wanted to make certain that there were opportunities
for students to take three courses and meet minimum progress
requirements,” Smith said.

These opportunities are increasing as more classes change from
four to five units each year and more one-unit seminars are
offered, she added.