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Academic Senate restores unit cap to former limits for priority enrollment students

By Alexandra Kaiser

Feb. 14, 2022 12:26 a.m.

This post was updated Feb. 14 at 12:06 a.m.

The Undergraduate Council of the Academic Senate unanimously voted on Jan. 21 to revoke the 15-unit cap for priority enrollment and reinstate the previous department-based 19-, 20- or 21-unit cap for priority enrollment.

The Undergraduate Council voted to increase the unit cap after listening to testimony from students and the Center for Accessible Education about their frustrations with the 15-unit cap, said Angelina Quint, the Undergraduate Students Association Council Academic Affairs commissioner. The change will go into effect for spring enrollment, she said.

The Legislative Assembly committee of the Academic Senate will vote on the reinstatement of the previous unit cap to pass, Quint added. She also said she expects the Academic Senate will vote in favor of increasing the unit cap.

The Undergraduate Council’s decision to reverse the lowered unit cap comes after months of confusion and advocacy, Quint said.

In spring 2020, the Priority Enrollment Ad Hoc Committee of the Academic Senate voted to reduce the 19-, 20- or 21-unit cap from department-based to a universal maximum of 15 units, UCLA spokesperson Katherine Alvarado said in an emailed statement.

As part of a broad reevaluation of priority enrollment, the committee recommended the lowered unit cap in an effort to make priority enrollment more effective for students.

[Related: USAC calls for reversal of lowered unit caps for students with CAE accommodations]

She added that the policy went into effect during fall enrollment, but students could file exemption requests with the CAE for additional priority enrollment units.

Despite the decision being made in spring 2020, the university did not communicate the changes to students until spring 2021, Alvarado said in the statement.

The transitional leadership within the CAE was not aware that it was their responsibility to inform students about the change, Alvarado said. Once the director of the CAE became aware that she was responsible for informing students, she immediately notified affected students, Alvarado added.

Quinn O’Connor, a fourth-year theater student and co-founder of the Disabled Student Union, said the university informed affected students about the lowered unit cap only a few days before fall enrollment began, which gave students limited time to submit exemption requests to the CAE.

Quint said some students were confused and upset when they heard about the new decision, and many had to rush to change their schedules and even graduation plans.

Out of around 986 students who receive priority enrollment through the CAE, around 116 submitted exemption requests that would give them the maximum number of priority enrollment units for fall enrollment, she added. If students had more time to submit exemptions to CAE, more students could have qualified for exemptions, Alvarado said.

Camila Krause, a second-year pre-human biology and society student who has priority enrollment through the CAE, said she was concerned after hearing about the change.

“I was really anxious for enrollment and what I was supposed to do now that I have this cap,” Krause said.

Christopher Ikonomou, a third-year communication student and member of the DSU, said he felt angry when he learned the Academic Senate had reduced the number of units he could enroll in during priority enrollment.

“Hearing that it was taken away only a couple of weeks before enrollment was set to start was pretty infuriating, especially because we were already guaranteed that accommodation,” Ikonomou said.

Immediately after being notified of the 15-unit maximum for priority enrollment, the DSU and other organizations started working to reverse the decision, O’Connor said. They added that the DSU released a statement and a petition explaining its opposition to the decision.

After months of advocacy and CAE presentations to the Undergraduate Council, Ikonomou said he presented about his experience with priority enrollment during the Jan. 21 meeting in which the Undergraduate Council voted to reverse the decision.

Quint said their advocacy paid off when the Undergraduate Council voted to reverse the lowered cap.

“It was really good to finally get a win after fighting tooth and nail for this,” O’Connor said.

Many students expressed relief that the original priority enrollment unit cap is back in effect, Krause said. She was surprised that the Undergraduate Council voted to increase the unit cap.

“I was surprised that it got reversed,” Krause said. “I thought we were going to have to continue to defend an accommodation we had already been approved for on a quarter-by-quarter basis.”

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Alexandra Kaiser | Campus politics editor
Kaiser is the 2022-2023 campus politics editor. She was previously a News reporter and Opinion columnist. She is also a third-year communication and political science student.
Kaiser is the 2022-2023 campus politics editor. She was previously a News reporter and Opinion columnist. She is also a third-year communication and political science student.
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