Faculty of the English department agreed to decrease the number of units needed to receive the English associate’s degree, Matt Kline, Faculty Coordinator for the Humanities Division said.
Currently, it takes 22 units to earn an English associate’s degree, but the faculty in the English department agreed to lower that requirement to 18 units, the minimum amount needed according to state law, Kline said.
Discussions about the required units started last semester when a few teachers discussed whether the college needed an English associate’s degree, but it was never a strong possibility to not have the college provide a degree for students interested, Kline said.
“We’re trying to make it more in line with transition institutions and trying not to put any undue burden for students to earn their associate’s degree,” Kline said.
The faculty thinks that decreasing the number of units needed and broadening the choices of classes students can take would make it easier for students to obtain a degree, Kline said.
“The EC catalog gives specific English courses that one must take, and if our proposal goes through, students may only need to takenine units from the list and be able to choose from the whole list,” Kline said.
As of right now, the faculty has decided they wanted the change and have all approved it, Kline said.
Next, it will go through to the Division Curriculum Committee and if they approve the changes, it will then have to be approved by the College Curriculum Committee, Kline said.
“The proposal hasn’t even been sent to the Division Curriculum Committee and hopefully the proposal will be finalized by the end of next semester,” Kline said.
If the proposal goes through, it’s likely to increase the number of students that are getting their associate’s degree, Kline said.
Christian Youmans, 21, music major said that he thinks this is a good idea for transferring students, however, he doesn’t think it will get much promotion because most students wait till their last semester to see a counselor.
“I think they should broaden the transferable units because even though some are not transferable, there are other classes that can enrich their education and make them more well rounded and more proficient in their career, making them a more valuable person to be hired by a company,” Youman said.
And if transfer students have completed all required classes to earn their associate’s degree, Kline doesn’t see any reason not to give them their degree.
“I can’t see anything negative coming from this situation. It’s a win-win situation for everyone, and students don’t get hampered,” Kline said.
Other students like Kodi Ude, 19, theater major, said that the proposal, if approved, will motivate students to stay in school, or come back to school to get their degree.
“More people would want to come to school to make somthinhthing of themselves,” Ude said.