Students lobby professors to vote for “˜Community and Conflict in the Modern World’ GE requirement

Students are spearheading an outreach effort to sway faculty opinion in a vote over a proposed “diversity-related” general education requirement.

Voting for the measure, which is called the Community and Conflict in the Modern World requirement, closes Friday. Student proponents are currently lobbying professors to vote in favor of the requirement, said Kim Davis, a third-year history student and the newly elected Academic Affairs commissioner for the Undergraduate Students Association Council.

The change would require students entering the College of Letters and Science as early as fall 2013 to take a general education class that covers both conflict and collaboration that can emerge through differences in communities.

Since the proposal was emailed to faculty, student volunteers from USAC and a group called Students For Diversity, have lobbied professors in person and through email, said Hana Khan, a third-year geography and environmental studies student.

Tlaloc Vasquez, a student representative on the Faculty Executive Committee and cofounder of Students for Diversity, said he decided to push for a student outreach effort when he saw that many faculty were not aware of the proposal early in the quarter.

“I feel like outside of the emails that (professors) get, speaking with students on a one-on-one fashion ““ even if it was just a few minutes after class ““ was a really positive thing,” said Vasquez, a second-year international development studies and Chicana/o studies student.

Matt Abularach, a fourth-year Chicana/o studies and political science student, is one of the student proponents of the requirement. Abularach said he has approached professors he knew by contacting them via email or approaching them after class. He said he has spoken and emailed with about 10 professors during his outreach efforts.

Abularach said some professors were apprehensive about this requirement forcing students to take courses outside of their interests, which could have a negative impact on the class environment.

Some professors also expressed concern with the criteria for the requirement and the breadth of sample courses that would be included. Others, meanwhile, are learning about the details from the student lobbyers.

David Paige, a professor of earth and space science, was approached by one of his students, Tasnuva Shabnoor, a third-year environmental science student, during his office hours.

Sitting in his office, Shabnoor told Paige about the details of the requirement, and Paige asked a couple of questions. Paige later said he appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the proposed GE requirement and asked to meet again with Shabnoor later this week.

Raquel Saxe, former USAC Academic Affairs commissioner and a third-year political science student, said she hopes student outreach will encourage faculty members to inform their colleagues about the vote.

Steps are being implemented to boost the voter turnout for this vote, said Kyle McJunkin, director of curriculum coordination who also works with the College Faculty Executive Committee. He said the vote was advertised in a quarterly newsletter sent out by the faculty executive committee and added that voting through MyUCLA would facilitate voting for faculty members.

The results will be announced on June 1.