The latest chapter in the possible switch to a semester system
takes place today as the Academic Senate hosts a town hall meeting
featuring speakers from universities that have made the switch.
Representatives from UC Berkeley and the University of Minnesota
will answer questions from students and faculty regarding
UCLA’s possible change to an academic calendar based on
semesters instead of quarters.
It is the second town hall meeting about a calendar change this
year and the latest event in what has been an ongoing debate among
members of the UCLA community.
Chancellor Albert Carnesale sparked the deliberations after he
asked the Academic Senate last December to determine which system
they think would better suit the university. This action followed
the report of the Joint Senate/Administrative Committee to Study
the Academic Calendar in November on issues surrounding the
possible conversion.
The Executive Board’s final recommendations are due by the
end of spring quarter. If it recommends a change to semesters,
Carnesale will then decide whether or not he wants to endorse the
board’s proposal and forward it to the UC Office of the
President.
According to John Sandbrook, assistant provost of the College of
Letters & Science, the organizers wanted to provide the
community with an opportunity to hear from peer institutions that
have gone through the conversion so they might learn from the
experience of others.
Sandbrook also said each department was asked to submit formal
comments on this issue by the end of winter quarter. As of last
week, 55 departments had turned in their recommendations.
The guests include Peter Zetterberg and Laura Coffin Koch, both
of whom were involved in the five-year conversion of the University
of Minnesota in the mid-1990s, and Catherine Koshland, chairwoman
of UC Berkeley’s Academic Senate. UCLA’s own Academic
Senate President Duncan Lindsey is also expected to attend.
At the last town hall meeting in February, Carnesale told the 50
in attendance that the determining factor is not the costs
associated with the switch, but which system will best provide
“depth” and “breadth” in education.
Berkeley, the only UC currently using a semester system, made
the switch in 1983; the University of Minnesota converted more
recently in 1999.