Integral to the education of undergraduate students is exposure to a broad range of perspectives on the liberal arts and the development of skills necessary for success in their chosen field of study. The Academic Senate Committee on Educational Policy (CEP) has the responsibility for recommending general education (GE) policies to the faculty and for reviewing and approving all undergraduate courses. In 1984, CEP recommended reform of the campus's breadth requirements because: (a) a more coherent rationale for the GE curriculum was needed; (b) the college structure had not succeeded in providing "general education" other than the core courses; (c) a number of boards wished to re-evaluate the way their courses were organized in terms of prerequisite sequences; (d) student retention was low and outside reviewers cited the lack of curricular structure as a possible cause; and (e) the campus needed to remedy student deficiencies in writing and quantitative reasoning. In 1985, after campuswide consultation and debate, the Academic Senate adopted the reforms with the understanding that all general education requirements would be reviewed periodically.
UCSC's present general education requirements reformed the "cafeteria-style" breadth requirements that had previously been in place. The requirements carefully describe and justify the nature of the educational experience represented by each of these requirements, emphasizing in particular the distinction between introductions to the disciplines (which lay the foundation necessary for further study in a given field) and topical courses (which show how a given disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspective addresses a topic of significant concern). Ideally, students who satisfy these requirements should have the opportunity to develop crucial skills, experience both depth and breadth of study, and develop a sense of the relationship between academic discourse and human concerns.
To satisfy the general education requirements, a student must pass courses in nine categories: two introductory courses each in humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences; composition, writing, arts, ethnic/third world, and quantitative courses; and three lower-division topical courses (one from each of three broad subject areas). The criteria that courses must meet to satisfy general education requirements are described below. Table A.6 shows the maximum number of courses needed to satisfy each general education requirement.
Introductions to the Humanities and Arts ("IH"), Natural Sciences ("IN"), and Social Sciences ("IS"). Courses that satisfy these requirements are designed to inform students about the scope and method of courses within each academic area and to prepare them for advanced coursework. These courses have no prerequisites and in many cases are required of majors in the respective disciplines. Two five-credit courses, each in different boards, are required within humanities and arts, natural sciences, and social sciences for a total of six courses.
Composition ("C"). One five-credit writing course stressing essay development and rhetorical sophistication is required. The Subject A, English Composition, requirement must be satisfied before enrolling in a "C" course.
Writing ("W"). The content of writing-intensive courses explicitly addresses the assumptions and conventions of writing in a given discipline, including effective techniques, use of sources, the analysis of evidence, and the methods of research, argument, and proof. The courses can be lower- or upper-division and may be offered by any sponsoring agency. They can be special sections of large lecture courses that require more writing and offer more instruction in writing. Writing assignments are distributed so that students have the opportunity to receive criticism of drafts and produce rewrites for final review. The Subject A, English Composition, requirement must be satisfied before enrolling in a "W" course. Transfer students must satisfy the "W" requirement with a course at UCSC (unless they transfer from a California community college and satisfy the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum guidelines). One five-credit course is required.
Arts ("A"). The art requirement is designed to expose students to the appreciation of or to an activity involved in one of many art forms. To receive the "A" designation, these courses must introduce the student to the record of human creativity as manifested in the various arts. Students must take one five-credit course or a three-course series of related two-credit courses from Art, Art History, Creative Writing (Literature), Music, Science Communication, or Theater Arts.
Ethnic/Third World ("E"). Ethnic/third world courses are designed to increase student awareness of non-Western cultures; improve cross-cultural awareness, skills, and sensitivity; and explore relationships between ethnicity and other topics in the liberal arts curriculum. At least half of the content of an "E" course must deal with ethnic minorities in the U.S. or with a non-Western society. Most of the course content must be relevant to the present time. Language acquisition courses do not qualify. Courses that teach performance skills may meet the requirement if sufficient material to increase cross-cultural understanding is taught alongside the practical skills. This requirement became effective for students entering in or after fall quarter 1986. One five-credit course is required.
Quantitative ("Q"). Courses satisfying this requirement involve either the acquisition of technical skills in mathematics or practice in the ability to apply mathematics in a specific context. Quantitative courses involve the use of pre-calculus mathematics, statistics, or calculus. Non-mathematics "Q" courses provide instruction in quantitative reasoning rather than specific mathematical skills. Courses in logic or computer programming cannot satisfy the "Q" requirement. One five-credit course is required.
Topical ("T"). These requirements are intended to expose students to introductory, thematic, and often interdisciplinary courses with broad social or intellectual relevance. These courses must be in the lower division, suitable for non-majors, and not required in any major. Each college core course satisfies a topical requirement. Three five-credit courses are required-one from each academic category (Humanities and Arts, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences). Transfer courses are not applied to the topical requirement, but the requirements are waived at entrance according to the following formula: 45 to 83.9 transferable quarter credits, one course waived; 84 to 104.9 transferable quarter credits, two courses waived; 105 or more transferable quarter credits, all three courses waived. If one topical course is required, it may be within any of the three academic areas; if two courses are required, they must be in different areas.
Courses Meeting More Than One Requirement
Some courses can meet more than one general education requirement. A document authored by CEP entitled "Description and Rationale of New General Education Requirements, Attachment II" (1984) states:
Individual courses may have multiple breadth codes… In general, faculty are urged to (re)design courses, especially in the lower division, to meet multiple requirements whenever possible.
Two rules govern which courses can satisfy two or more requirements: (a) no course can satisfy both the composition and writing requirements (ensuring that students have at least two quarters of writing instruction); and (b) other requirements may be combined when there is no reason why they are incompatible (e.g., an introduction to the discipline course cannot also be classified as a topical course). Breadth is assured by the "introduction to the discipline" courses (involving six different boards) and the three topical courses (each from a different division). The arts, ethnic/third world, quantitative, and writing-intensive requirements can be combined with other general education objectives when appropriate. Although there are fourteen requirements, it was not intended that students necessarily take fourteen separate courses.
College Core Courses
UCSC's current requirements for general education require a maximum of fourteen courses (70 quarter credits). Each student admitted to UCSC with fewer than 30 quarter credits must enroll in his or her college's core course. This requirement is regarded as being in addition to the campuswide general education requirement. In most instances, this is a one-quarter, five-credit course which also satisfies a topical requirement and may satisfy a writing requirement.
Petitions to Waive General Education Requirements
Students may petition to substitute a non-GE course to satisfy a GE requirement. Petitions are reviewed by college advisers and divisional deans and then acted on by the chair of CEP. Students may also petition the chair of CEP to waive one GE course but these are approved only in extremely rare circumstances. All requests for waivers are subject to stringent review; the composition and writing requirements cannot be waived.
Since the time of the last WASC review, the Chancellor's Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) and the Committee on Educational Policy have evaluated and reformed the general education curriculum. Assessment information on enrollments and student evaluations are also routinely collected, and a special assessment on how students satisfy their GE requirements was conducted.
In 1987, Chancellor Stevens announced the appointment of the Committee on Undergraduate Education. Composed of nine faculty members and two students, the committee was charged to: 1) study undergraduate education at UCSC and report on what it represents and its condition; 2) consider general questions of what an excellent undergraduate education should encompass and, in particular, what undergraduate education at UCSC should be; and 3) propose measures to translate that vision into reality. The Report of the Committee on Undergraduate Education in December 1988 stimulated serious discussion about undergraduate education.
The CUE report encouraged the adoption of a more structured and integrated curriculum. The latter was an outgrowth of the committee's definition of the qualities of an educated person. The proposed curriculum included twelve requirements: writing, world culture (two courses), natural sciences (two courses), arts and humanities, creative activity, quantitative inquiry/formal reasoning (with a Subject M or math entry exam), disciplinary foundations (two courses), and the "Capstone Course" (an upper-division integrative course). Partly in response to the fiscal advice of the Committee on Planning and Budget (CPB) and partly on pedagogical grounds, CEP decided not to recommend the implementation of the CUE report as a whole.
Although not adopted intact, the issues raised by the report have been addressed in several ways. Responding to a recommendation of CUE, the Academic Vice Chancellor appointed associates for programs and planning, and undergraduate education. In 1990, the CEP-CPB Subcommittee on the Intellectual and Cultural Life of the Colleges recommended that each college should offer a curriculum that provides undergraduates at every level with the opportunity to enrich their education in ways not available through the boards. The purpose of the proposed courses was to broaden and deepen students' education outside their major field and expose them to a greater variety of topics than is possible with the current five-credit curriculum. After the resolution was passed by the Academic Senate in 1991-92, colleges began sponsoring these one- to three-credit courses during the 1992-93 academic year. In addition, capstone courses and senior seminars that satisfy the senior comprehensive requirement are now offered by several boards.
As a result of the CUE report and the discussions it instigated, CEP began to work toward refining UCSC's current general education program to bring it more in tune with both the spirit of the CUE report and the original intentions of the general education requirements as adopted in 1985. Over the past five years, the committee has conducted in-depth reviews of the quality of the college core courses and has re-examined the standards for ethnic/third world and topical courses.
Examination of College Core Courses. In 1990-91, CEP conducted an extensive review of the college core courses. The review included examination of each course's organization, goals, content and materials, future plans, and evaluations by instructors and students. The committee concluded that the core courses were generally of high quality, carefully planned, extensively evaluated, and accomplished their goals effectively. Goals common to all core courses were: (a) teaching in small sections; (b) attention to careful and critical reading of texts; (c) attention to writing clear, well-organized prose suitable for college-level academic discourse; and (d) providing the opportunity for learning how to participate in collegial discussions. The committee recommended that the core courses could be improved by strengthening the lectures; improving the communication between course planners, lecturers, and section leaders; and sharing information between colleges.
Definition of Ethnic/Third World and Topical Courses. Three years ago, CEP clarified the guidelines for courses designated as satisfying the ethnic/third world ("E") requirement, reviewed all courses with that designation and, as a result, directed that some courses be revised and others removed from the list of courses satisfying the requirement. As a consequence of this ongoing process, the "E" requirement represents a more focused, coherent pedagogical goal than has been true in the past.
In March 1991, CEP clarified its guidelines and criteria for courses that satisfy the topical requirement and asked boards of study to review their lower-division offerings to: (a) ensure that courses designated as introductions to disciplines ("IH," "IN," and "IS" courses) and topicals ("T" courses) are in fact consistent with the descriptions and intentions of these requirements; and (b) increase their lower-division offerings to meet this curricular responsibility (for boards that offer very few or no topical courses). CEP has redefined the way college core courses can be used to satisfy the topical course requirement and has encouraged the divisions to develop, as topical courses, prototypes of the integrative core courses described in the CUE report.
Writing. CEP investigated the feasibility of following the CUE report's recommendation to add an upper-division writing requirement; even if it should prove impossible, CEP plans to clarify the "W" requirement and encourage boards to develop more courses that satisfy the writing requirement in more effective ways across the curriculum (primarily through the board review process).
Course Review. In addition to conducting a careful evaluation of major course requirements, CEP examines each board's GE and lower-division curriculum as part of the campus's program review process. CEP evaluates the number of courses required by the major and asks a board to justify high course requirements when they exist. In addition, all changes in course descriptions in the catalog, including all new undergraduate courses and programs, are reviewed by CEP.
There are several ongoing assessment efforts connected with general education. Each fall, a survey of new freshpersons examines their educational goals. In addition, general education courses are systematically evaluated through ratings from recent graduates, analyses of enrollments, and course evaluations. Evaluation of the effectiveness of specific courses is left to the board and faculty offering each course.
Survey of Freshpersons. UCSC students report being more interested in receiving a liberal arts education than their peers nationally (who are more motivated by the practical benefits of an education). Nationwide, more students attend college with the aim of getting a better job (61 percent vs 73 percent) or making more money (46 percent vs 66 percent). A greater percentage of UCSC students consider gaining a general education (80 percent vs 70 percent), becoming a more cultured person (56 percent vs 47 percent), and improving their academic skills (48 percent vs 40 percent) as important reasons for attending college. Clearly, the general education curriculum is an important element in meeting the expectations of the students enrolled at UCSC.
Survey of Recent Graduates. The biennial survey of recent graduates asks alumni to evaluate the learning outcomes of the general education curriculum. UCSC's 1990 graduates rated writing clear prose, using one's creative faculties, and analyzing information as their most important intellectual skills. Graduates were highly satisfied with their growth in these areas. They reported the least development in the areas they rated least important (applying scientific methods, understanding the natural sciences, understanding technology, and understanding mathematics). Compared to earlier surveys, the area that has become more important to students is analyzing information; understanding western culture, the workings of government, and mathematics have become less important. The survey found that 1991 graduates were less satisfied with the availability of general education courses than 1989 graduates. (Note that there was greater dissatisfaction with the availability of courses in the major as well.) Alumni reported that they would have liked more education on physical fitness and clear and effective speaking.
Analysis of Enrollment. Enrollment in GE courses is reported to the academic divisions at the end of each academic year for use in their curricular planning.
At the request of CEP, a study of how students meet GE requirements was begun in 1992. The study followed students who entered the campus in 1987 and documented which courses they took to satisfy each requirement, when the courses were taken, and the pass rates. The findings of the study and some of the concerns about each requirement are summarized in this section.
Introduction to the Humanities. The single course most often used to satisfy one of the "IH" requirements is Women's Studies 1 (Introduction to Feminism). The boards with the highest enrollments in "IH" courses in 1991-92 were Language Studies, Music, Literature, and History.
Introduction to the Natural Sciences. Astronomy 2 was the most popular "IN" course among non-science majors. The boards with the highest enrollments in "IN" courses in 1991-92 were Biology, Mathematics, and Chemistry.
Introduction to the Social Sciences. The two courses most often used to satisfy the "IS" requirements are Economics 1 (Introductory Microeconomics) and Education 92 (Education for a Livable World). In 1991-92, the boards with the highest enrollments in "IS" courses were Psychology, Economics, and Sociology. Because of the high demand by majors or pre-majors, access to some of the introductory courses can be difficult for non-majors.
Composition and Writing. Nearly all students satisfy the composition requirement by taking Writing 1, and 93 percent of new students take the course during their first or second year. All core courses offer sections that satisfy the writing-intensive requirement and over three-fourths of all freshpersons meet the requirement in this way.
Arts. The course criteria for meeting the "A" requirement are the least clear. The distinction between an "A" course and a "T" course in the arts is problematic. Until recently, students used a great variety of courses to meet the "A" requirement. In the spring of 1992, a new course (Music 80H, American Popular Music) was introduced. Nearly 1,300 students enrolled in the course's two sections. Because it satisfies both the "A" and "T" requirements and because of its large enrollments, it appears that this course is in a position to exert great influence on how students satisfy both of these general education requirements.
Ethnic/Third World. The curricular requirements for "E" courses were revised by CEP in 1990 to ensure that ethnic/third world courses were relevant to current events and had at least half of their course content devoted to ethnic themes. As a result of this review, the "E" designation was removed from twelve courses (most were in History or Art History). Nevertheless, the requirement still lacks some coherence because the issues covered in domestic ethnic courses and those discussed in third world courses can be quite distinct. Student enrollments are evenly split between "E" courses that focus on domestic and international topics. About half of the students satisfy the requirement during their first year, many through their college core course (the core courses in Crown, Merrill, and Oakes Colleges satisfy the "E" requirement). In addition, a total of 104 board-sponsored "E" courses were offered in 1991-92 (7 in the Arts Division, 59 in Humanities, 38 in Social Sciences; 17 percent were upper-division courses).
Quantitative. There is considerable variation in the amount of quantitative training provided by "Q" courses. Interest in revising the quantitative requirement focuses on increasing students' exposure to quantitative methods as well as ensuring relevancy to students' majors. (For example, one-third of all non-science majors enroll in Astronomy 2, a survey of current thought about the physical universe.)
Topical. The courses most commonly used to satisfy the three topical requirements were core courses (Porter, Cowell, and Kresge in the arts and humanities; Oakes and Stevenson in either arts and humanities or social sciences; and Crown, Merrill, and College Eight in the social sciences). In 1991-92, the most popular board-sponsored courses included Music 80H (American Popular Music) in the arts, History of Consciousness 80A (Culture and Ideology in the Twentieth Century) in the humanities, Biology 80A (Female Physiology and Gynecology) in the natural sciences, and Psychology 80B (Human Sexuality) in the social sciences.
WASC Standard 4.B.3 states that general education courses should include offerings in the upper division. Although five GE requirements can be met only with lower-division courses (composition, introduction to humanities, introduction to natural science, introduction to social science, topical), over twenty percent of all GE courses offered in 1991-92 were in the upper division (writing: 30 percent; quantitative: 12 percent; arts: 27 percent; ethnic/third world: 48 percent). Beginning in 1993-94, several new capstone and senior seminar courses will also satisfy the writing requirement (e.g., History, Anthropology). As upper-division courses usually require prerequisites, access to these courses may be restricted, and enrollment demands are often low.
WASC Standard 4.B.3 also recommends that no fewer than 45 semester credits, the equivalent of thirteen-and-one-half courses at UCSC, be required of each student to satisfy a campus's general education requirements. Because many courses satisfy two requirements and ten courses satisfy three, the number of courses a student must take to satisfy UCSC's GE requirements may vary from an absolute minimum of nine to a maximum of fourteen.
To examine the range in number of courses that students take to satisfy the general education requirements, the Registrar's Office evaluated a sample of the transcripts of seniors graduating in the spring of 1993. The study found that two-thirds of the graduates needed eleven or fewer courses to satisfy the GE requirements. A follow-up study of courses taken by spring 1993 graduates found that students typically took more than twenty courses that satisfied general education requirements. Although the averages are somewhat inflated by courses required within students' respective majors, the typical graduate passed one course or more for each GE requirement. Ninety-seven percent of recent UCSC graduates passed fourteen or more general education courses. As transfer credits were not evaluated, it is likely that part of the other three percent also met or exceeded the WASC standard. Thus, while the minimum number of courses needed by UCSC students to satisfy general education requirements is below the WASC recommendation, the number of courses actually taken significantly exceeds the guideline.
Graduation requirements within each major are monitored yearly. For 1993-94, the number of courses required by majors ranged from eight to twenty-five. Course credits for these courses may vary, especially for majors requiring laboratory work.
Table A.7 summarizes the number of courses and credits required to graduate from each major in 1993-94. Assuming the typical student takes eleven courses (55 quarter credits) to satisfy the general education requirements, a major should require no more than 125 quarter credits. The table shows that one undergraduate degree program, Computer Engineering, requires more than 125 credits (134 credits). Marine Biology (123 credits) and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (120 credits) are near the limit. Because some of the courses required by these majors also satisfy GE requirements (three or four 5-credit courses in each major) or because the GE requirements may be satisfied with fewer than eleven courses, students in majors with a high number of course requirements have the opportunity, although limited, to enroll in elective courses.
The general education curriculum, like the university, is continually changing as values evolve and fiscal resources change. Three factors will have a strong influence on the future of the general education curriculum: the budget, the role of administrative oversight, and continued assessment.
The University of California and the campus are dealing with the most severe budget reductions in their history. Cuts to divisional and board budgets have caused significant reductions in the use of temporary teaching staff, and the early retirement programs have diminished the number of permanent faculty. As a result, tenure-track faculty are being asked to teach a greater number of courses and/or a greater number of students. When, due to a scarcity of resources, divisions and boards must reduce the total number of offerings, courses serving the needs of majors may receive a higher priority than general education courses.
Although there has been little central oversight of general education offerings, the academic divisions have been cognizant of the potential for a problem and, to date, no shortages have occurred. Nevertheless, the potential still exists. Over the next year, CEP will develop a system to monitor the GE courses planned within each academic division. In addition, the new initiative to manage instructional resources is examining ways to reward boards for their contribution to general education.
With our system of shared governance, the responsibility for general education is divided between CEP (for oversight of content), the central administration (for allocation of resources to support the curriculum) and the divisions and boards (for implementation). In the past, annual changes in leadership for CEP and two-year membership appointments posed some continuity issues and made it difficult for the committee to effectively address administrative oversight issues that require a long-term perspective. A new appointment procedure and the assistance of long-time staff members now assures more continuity.
CEP's many other responsibilities also limit the attention it can devote to the oversight of the general education program. Even in periods when the committee is proactive, it shapes the general education curriculum primarily by advising boards and academic divisions on the maintenance or the development of courses, and by vetoing course proposals. It does not have the ability to create resource or financial incentives.
The duties of the new Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education position (recommended by the previous WASC review) relative to general education are unclear. As they evolve, its occupant may assume an active role in the development of future general education policies and provide leadership in the integration and evaluation of general education at UCSC.
CEP plans to continue its evaluation process by examining courses with large enrollments and the few that satisfy three requirements will be reviewed. In addition, the committee will assess GE offerings at the close of each academic year to ensure that there are sufficient courses in each area. CEP's assumption in this evaluation process is that UCSC's current general education program is intellectually and pedagogically defensible but, as the CUE report pointed out, its goals can be carried out only through the responsible designation and creation of courses that meet these goals.
In addition to CEP's work, the Offices of Institutional Research and SAA/EOP will study the low pass rates of students from several underrepresented groups in "Q" and "IN" courses.