If some faculty get their way, UCLA could go back to the
traditional semester calendar it used until 1966.
Leaders of the faculty body who determine academic policy at
UCLA think there is a good possibility a semester versus quarter
debate will consume the campus for the rest of this year, after a
comprehensive report is released in the next few weeks.
The Academic Senate started investigating the issue last January
through a 12-member committee created to gather information that
informs “full and open consultation across the
campus.”
The highly-anticipated report, which took nine months of
research to prepare, will be released to the senate executive board
and the executive vice chancellor in early November.
“We are looking forward to seeing what the report
says,” said Duncan Lindsey, senate chair.
The Academic Senate is the legislative body on campus
responsible for setting academic policy and reviewing
administrative decisions. All tenure-track faculty are members.
The report will address the effects on the quality of teaching,
learning and research; short term transitional costs; long-term
costs of administration; and faculty, student and staff welfare,
per the senate’s request.
If the senate determines the semester calendar’s
transitional costs outweigh potential benefits, the debate
won’t go any further, said Cliff Brunk, senate
vice-chair.
Though Ray Knapp, co-chair of the Joint Committee to Review the
Academic Calendar, is relatively confident the report will
jump-start campus-wide discussion during winter and spring
quarters.
The committee also met with student representatives to include
what they want to see in the report. The Undergraduate Students
Association Council asked the committee to include information on
how a switch would affect retention rates and student fees, said
Chris Diaz, USAC academic affairs commissioner and senate executive
board member.
Students may have the opportunity to voice their opinions
through debate forums and a student resolution, Diaz said.
The debate is a recurring theme in the history of UCLA. Before
1966, all University of California campuses were on the semester
system. The UC converted to a quarter system that year to add a
summer session.
After state budget cuts eliminated funding for summer quarters
in 1969, UCLA considered a switch back to the traditional system
five times. On two occasions the university came close to a switch,
but decided against it because of student opposition and mixed
faculty support.
With the exception of the Berkeley campus who switched in 1976,
all UCs still divide their year into four partitions. UC Merced,
scheduled to open in 2004, will use a semester calendar.
UC Merced director of academic planning Karen Merit said,
“The chancellor wanted to increase the possibility of
cooperation with community and state colleges in the area,”
which are all on the semester system.
Switching to semesters may affect other UC campuses as well. If
UCLA makes the transition, it is likely other UC campuses will
follow to unify the entire system, Knapp said.
This is a good time to consider the switch at UCLA, the
committee said.
One reason to switch is many want all undergraduate and graduate
schools to follow the same calendar. Both the medical and law
schools are on the semester system, which creates problems for
students and faculty who start school five weeks before the rest of
the campus begins, Knapp said.
The Joint Committee also sites a statistic that most of the
nation’s colleges and universities ““ approximately 85
percent ““ use a semester calendar.
The timing of this issue is awkward, Knapp said. Though budget
constraints could preclude a switch, Knapp said financial reasons
are not the primary motivation for change ““ research and
education are.
If the switch actually happens ““ “and that’s a
huge if,” Knapp said ““ the earliest the change would
occur is in 2008.
Check http://www.senate.ucla.edu for updates on the report about
a possible semester switch.