The University Curriculum Council voted yesterday to eliminate the 135-hour requirement for students seeking retroactive credit for classes they took last year that now fulfill Tier III requirements.
Students who had not accumulated 135 credit hours when they took such a class may now obtain credit from their colleges. These are classes that did not fulfill Tier III requirements last year, but do now, after the university expanded the list of acceptable courses effective this fall.
People told me
'Why should we not just grandfather this in ' said David Descutner, University College dean. There are 3,981 seats in Tier III and equivalent courses this fall, compared with 2,600 last fall, Descutner said.
Also at the meeting, professor of environmental biology Harvey Ballard defended his department's decision to drop two organic chemistry courses from the list of requirements for majors. Environmental biology students are already too bogged down with requirements, Ballard said.
It's almost impossible now for them to finish in four years Ballard said.
Environmental biology is increasingly interdisciplinary, Ballard added, and majors now are required to take geography and physics classes that introduce concepts like geographic information systems and hydraulic movement of fluids through plants.
The tradition in our department was not to drop courses
but to add courses
Ballard said. In order to account for these new fields that have become attached to environmental biology
we get rid of areas that are less desperately needed.
The resolution to drop the courses was passed without opposition.
The council also passed minor revisions to the bachelor of criminal justice degree, which now includes a larger array of courses from which to choose.
Faculty have told me
'Our progress will be burdened if we don't broaden options
' Descutner said.
The council also passed a resolution changing the name of the Department of Chemical Engineering to the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
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