Advisory on suspension of the General Education (GE) Seminar Requirement

October 29, 2008

Dear Faculty:

This note concerns a recent action regarding suspension of the General Education (GE) seminar requirement. In particular, it corrects potentially confusing information that was published in the Daily Bruin on Tuesday, October 28, 2008. It is important to note that the Writing II requirement has NOT been changed. Students are still required to complete an approved Writing II course. Students are also still required to complete ten (10) GE courses to satisfy the General Education requirement. The only change is now one of those ten courses need not be an approved lower division GE seminar course.

If you would like further information regarding this action's justification and implications, and why it impacts Writing II courses, please continue reading.

The GE Seminar regulation, one of the least understood regulations affecting College students, requires our students to complete an approved lower division seminar course as one of their ten GE classes. This was originally envisioned to give our students a small-group experience in a subject matter outside of their majors. As the number of these courses is limited, students have also been permitted to take a second Writing II course that has been approved for GE credit in lieu of the GE seminar. One consequence of this is that demand for Writing II courses is much larger than intended and that lower division students needing to complete their Writing II requirement have been prevented from enrolling in these classes. This is because too many students have been waiting until their senior year to enroll in what are essentially lower division skills-enhancing classes.

The College Faculty Executive Committee (FEC) unanimously voted to suspend the GE Seminar requirement at its meeting on October 10, 2008. The suspension, effective Winter 2009, relieves all currently enrolled students of this requirement through graduation. A proposal to suspend this requirement was submitted to the College FEC for approval by the College Deans as an emergency measure owing to extreme enrollment pressure on Writing II courses during a period of escalating fiscal constraints that has precluded offering sufficient Writing II sections to meet demand. There is precedent for at least temporary suspensions of College requirements in the face of financial shortfalls.

The GE seminar requirement has been suspended, but not rescinded. However, later this academic year, the FEC will carefully and thoroughly deliberate a proposal to rescind the GE seminar requirement. The requirement's history, intent and role in both the GE and overall curriculum will be considered, particularly in the context of: (1) the College's initiative for enhancing and promoting upper division "capstone" seminars, and (2) the College Faculty's action last year affirming Writing II as a skills-based requirement to be satisfied in the student's first seven quarters. If this proposal is approved by the FEC, the Faculty of the College will be asked to vote on the matter. If the proposal is not adopted, for any reason, the GE seminar requirement will be reinstated for freshman arriving on campus for Fall, 2009.

Any GE seminar course taken previously will still apply toward the applicable foundation area. GE seminars will still be offered and students are encouraged to enroll in them to fulfill their coursework, but a GE seminar will no longer be a graduation requirement for current students. For more information on the GE seminar requirement suspension, including answers to frequently asked questions, please visit:

www.ugeducation.ucla.edu/counseling/ge-seminar-suspension.htm

Please feel free to send me your questions and concerns to fecchair@college.ucla.edu.

Best regards,

Robert Fovell
Chair
College Faculty Executive Committee