Faculty and administrators are examining an innovative proposal to simplify, reduce and at the same time enhance the 1983-designed general education (GE) curriculum that students take in the College of Letters & Science.

The proposal, issued by the GE Governance Committee, recommends that general education be simplified; that the total number of required units be reduced; that courses be increased from four to five units, making classes more intensive; that all courses undergo departmental evaluation and review; and that counseling and monitoring of students' progress be strengthened.

The goals of the proposed modifications are to enhance and improve the undergraduate educational experience and strengthen academic preparedness during lower-division study, said David S. Rodes, chair of the 14-member committee of faculty and students.

"A responsible faculty have the job of thinking about general education periodically," Rodes said. "And when you think that general education is the foundation of an education, it's extraordinarily important. Our interest is in making this a leaner and better plan for GE at UCLA."

The recommendations should also prove effective in improving time to degree, said Judith L. Smith, the College's vice provost for undergraduate education. And they come at a time when departments are already engaged in a comprehensive review of undergraduate curriculum to plan for possible enrollment growth.

Under the draft plan - which may go through several modifications before coming up for a vote as early as the June meeting of the Academic Senate's Legislative Assembly - students would be required to take fewer general education courses and, in particular, fewer science classes.

The plan recommends that the majority of GE required courses be incorporated in three main areas: Foundations of the Arts and Humanities; Foundations of Society and Culture; and Foundations of Scientific Inquiry. The foreign language, quantitative reasoning and writing requirements would remain the same.

Altogether, under the draft plan, students would take 71 units of GE courses, accounting for 40% of the required units needed to graduate; under current rules, students must take 82 GE units, which comprise 45% of their total coursework.

The reduction in science GE requirements from six courses to three brings UCLA more in line with other UC campuses, administrators said. For example, College students at UCLA must take twice as many science courses as UC Berkeley students. "But more is not necessarily better," Smith said. "Science departments could concentrate resources in fewer GE courses. This is a time for the sciences to look critically at courses for non-majors. We have an opportunity to be reflective, critical and inventive."

UCLA faculty, Rodes said, are also trying to accommodate the growing number of students opting to take on minors or double majors. Over the last two years, 8% of College students graduated with a double major, and 10% with a minor.

The proposed changes to the GE requirements should allow students more flexibility in selecting their coursework. First, by taking fewer GE courses, they would be able to take more electives or courses that would apply to their major or minor. Secondly, more courses would be cross-listed to satisfy GE, giving students additional options. For example, students could enroll in classes in performance and visual arts for GE credit, in contrast to current rules, Rodes said.

"We're trying to get a little bit away from 'division' and 'department' to something more to do with the content and intent of the courses," Rodes said.

College departments have been asked to comment on the proposal.

"We have to make changes that bring us into the 21st century," Smith said. "What we do and how we get there will be debated, and it is great to see the faculty engaged in lively discussions about our GE curriculum."