BY MARINA DUNDJERSKI
UCLA Today Staff

The tally is in.

After months of debate over whether UCLA should switch to a semester system — a question that Chancellor Albert Carnesale requested the faculty consider — the overwhelming majority of UCLA’s departments are in favor of staying with quarters.

A total of 47 of the 59 departments that have weighed in so far have decided in favor of the quarter system. Only six departments voted for semesters: dentistry, French, mechanical engineering, music, musicology and Slavic languages. Six were undecided. The reports were submitted after departmental discussions among Senate faculty.

“The reports were very thoughtful and caring, and each one reflects how a change would affect their discipline,” said Duncan Lindsey, chair of the Academic Senate. “There appears to be little support for a switch.”

A third town hall meeting on the topic will be held 3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. May 1 in the law school, Room 1347. The Senate will then conduct a referendum among its members May 5-16. However, the final decision on the academic calendar will lie ultimately with the chancellor. He has requested that the Senate provide him with its comments by June 7. Any change to UCLA’s academic calendar would also require approval by the UC Board of Regents.

Many departments casting their vote identified similar reasons for rejecting a switch. Several, especially those in the sciences, said that the structure of their curricula corresponds well with the quarter system. Other departments stated that the quarter system requires a faster pace, which puts UCLA at a competitive advantage, and that longer sequences can already be achieved by creating courses that run two or three quarters.

Furthermore, some departments stated they found inadequate documentation supporting a change. “If there were evidence that learning improved under a semester system, that would have altered the discussion,” Lindsey said.

Many departments expressed the fear that fewer courses would be offered with semesters. A representative from the University of Minnesota, which switched to semesters in 1999, told the Senate that it lost 38% of its classes as a result of the change.

In its report, the English department, which voted 31-0 in favor of quarters, commented that when the English literature curriculum was limited, for the most part, “to a dozen or so ‘dead, white men,’ the semester system worked very well.” But once the canon wars erupted — adding critical and literary diversity and an interdisciplinary approach — faculty saw real advan-tages to having the quarter system. Some faculty in the department had polled their students and found they were overwhelmingly opposed to a change. The report pointed out that the number of English majors at UC Berkeley fell considerably following that campus’ conversion to semesters.

Among those favoring a switch to semesters: the School of Dentistry. School representatives said in their report that “the longer time period in each course will allow for greater depth in exploration of the topics and internalization of the subject matter.” It also stated that since the medical school faculty teach the basic sciences for the dental school, it would be beneficial for the dental school to be on the same calendar as the David Geffen School of Medicine.

To view the departmental reports, go to www.senate.ucla.edu.