I’m not too fond of calculations, but one thing sustains
my exposure to them: the unit cap.
With every enrollment pass, I whip out the good old paper and
pencil to calculate the units I have left to complete my major
along with prerequisites for graduate school.
Unfortunately, this habit becomes futile as my available units
are depleted quarter by quarter.
There’s no reason for me to calculate available units to
make sure I can take the occasional fun or interesting class when
it is quite clear that the units I have left are only enough to
complete my major and its prerequisites.
This limit on classes is just one example of the academic limits
the unit cap puts on students. This evil number ““ 216 units
excluding AP units ““ limits the freedom to explore,
pressuring students to choose the right major and deterring them
from adding on a potential specialization or additional classes to
enhance and expand upon academic interests.
The unit cap’s purpose is to ensure timely graduation
(established as four academic years) and to encourage a continuous
flow of incoming students. From freshman year fall quarter to
senior year summer quarter, a student can take an unlimited number
of units but must first trudge through a tedious petition
process.
Even further difficulties exist for students that need extra
units beyond the summer quarter of their senior year, such as a
likely rejection of their petition for these extra units.
According to Margaret Tchakerian, assistant director at College
Academic Counseling, “Most students … will not hit the unit
maximum.” Tchakerian stated that 383 of the 14,000 students
under College Academic Counseling (not including honors, athletics
or Academic Advancement Program students) requested to exceed the
unit cap during the 2004-2005 school year. These figures include
students who wish to surpass the allotted units in four years and
those who take classes past the summer quarter of their senior
year.
Though such a small percentage (less than 3 percent) of students
under College Academic Counseling file these petitions, Tchakerian
noted that permissions are rarely granted to students past the
senior summer quarter and that it has been increasingly difficult
to approve them.
Such unit restrictions unfortunately hinder students from freely
carving out their academic paths.
Think back to when you were reassured as a freshman that you
would have the “time to explore” before deciding on a
major. For some majors with fewer prerequisites, such as history,
this holds true. But for many majors this statement may prove
false, particularly for the sciences ““ such as biochemistry
““ that require a string of sequential prerequisites and the
units that come with them.
It is also rare for students to completely adhere to their
original academic plan. A student may discover fulfillment in a
dramatically different field and may decide that their original
major does not meet their initial expectations. And while modifying
academic plans may be feasible for a majority of students, to some
““ especially to those that confirm or change their true
interests in their second or third years at UCLA ““ the unit
cap system is discouragingly unaccommodating.
Lawrence Chan, a fourth-year philosophy student, was previously
a computer science major but switched to philosophy in the
beginning of his third year after he realized that programming no
longer interested him.
Although philosophy gained appeal for him during his freshman
year, he had already declared computer science. But when he
considered changing his major two years later, Chan was already
running low on units and expected it would be too difficult to
switch. This uncertainty from the was the greatest source of stress
during the transition, he said.
Aegean Chan, a fourth-year biology student (who is not related
to Lawrence Chan), also expressed her frustration about the system.
Studying abroad in Spain prompted Aegean Chan to add a minor in
Spanish during her third year. She petitioned for 18 extra units
and was rejected.
For Aegean Chan, minoring in Spanish was taking advantage of the
breadth of education UCLA offers. She said she found it aggravating
that the unit cap was hardly emphasized at orientation or by
counselors; otherwise she would have taken summer school or four
classes per quarter to allow room for the addition of a minor.
While the current unit cap doesn’t seem to affect the
majority of the general campus population, it can hamper
flexibility in a student’s academic plan.
Concerns about the consequences of removing the unit cap include
more seniors lingering after four years, which could lead to a
reduction in space and resources. Also, since public education is
subsidized by the state, proponents of the unit cap say the
availability of these financial resources would decrease if more
students stayed in school longer.
It is unlikely that the number of students exceeding the unit
cap would suddenly increase. Many students want to graduate as
early as they can to get jobs in the real world, and education is
expensive ““ it’s not exactly fun to watch the bank
account drain or loans accumulate.
Money aside, there is no greater place than college to explore
an assortment of knowledge, information, culture and technology.
Unfortunately, resources are finite and restrictions such as the
unit cap are enforced ““ but when these restrictions begin to
hinder flexibility and the freedom to explore academically, they
must be reconsidered.
If your major decision to exceed the unit cap is causing
minor headaches, e-mail Yoo at jyoo@media.ucla.edu. Send general
comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.