Chemistry students will need to take four years worth of chemistry and other life science classes in order to receive an associate’s degree for transfer, according to El Camino College’s Academic Program Mapper.

The Academic Program Mapper is an introductory resource that helps students navigate the requirements needed to transfer to a four-year college or for graduating with an associates degree.

“What it’s intending to do is try and answer a basic set of questions that most students have when they’re exploring a program,” Vice President of Academic Affairs Carlos Lopez said.

Dean of Academic Affairs Amy Grant told the Academic Senate that there are “so many things wrong” with the Academic Program Mapper, adding that some academic fields such as geography have less than 57 units, which are not enough to graduate with an associate’s degree.

Meanwhile, other programs such as life sciences have too many unit requirements to achieve an associates degree, which only requires a minimum of 60 units to graduate.

Revisions are underway for this resource to fix unreliable information of requirements listed for a variety of academic departments, according to an announcement from Lopez during the Dec. 2 Academic Senate meeting.

“Some of the program maps aren’t as streamlined as they need to be, and really try to account for too much, too many complicated pathways that a student might have to take,” Lopez said.

This has provided misleading information to students over the years, with the possibility of causing a few to take more classes than they need.

“We’re keeping our chemistry students here for way too long, having them take way too many things that they didn’t actually need,” Grant said.

ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence platforms possibly utilize this program as a tool when answering questions related to transferring or class requirements, causing further confusion among students.

As a full time counselor at ECC, Amy Herrschaft described a few cases where students have come to her office concerned with research from ChatGPT referencing Academic Pathways.

“AI is going to read our catalog, and the program maps… that’s a good starting point, but we need to be critical of this information,” Herrschaft said.

Students are encouraged to set up an appointment with a counselor instead of solely relying on the Academic Program Mapper.

Discussions on the AI resolution for AI tools in faculty grading are set for future agenda meetings.

Additionally, the Academic Senate approved the following:

• The Academic Integrity Handbook, a reference guide for faculty when dealing with student integrity-related issues.

• A resolution of Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) standards, that outline requirements of faculty interaction for online courses. It suggests that faculty teaching a 16-week course engage, providing guidance for students at least once a week.

• A resolution relating to paid vacation leave for faculty, concluding that a total of 12 spots for paid vacation were awarded for the 2026-27 academic year.

To contact the Counseling Office and set up an appointment, call 310-660-3458.

Editor’s note:

• This story was updated to add first reference to a person at 12:57 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10.
• This story was updated to correct the number of units referenced for geography at 10:32 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11.