Spring Break
Changes to residency requirement postponed
by Alana Abramson
Staff writer
News | 4/21/09
Posted online at 7:41 AM EST on 4/21/09
Proposed changes to the University residency requirement of seven semesters will be postponed following the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee's withdrawal of Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe's original proposal to increase the current requirement to eight semesters, according to University Registrar Mark Hewitt.
Instead, Jaffe is working with Hewitt to concentrate on clarifying the language of the requirement and adjusting it to incorporate the Justice Brandeis Semester, according to Hewitt.
Jaffe and Vice President of Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy decided to postpone any major changes to the residency requirement on the recommendation of Hewitt and Dean of Admissions Gil Villanueva, wrote Hewitt in an e-mail to the Justice.
Hewitt wrote that he and Villanueva recommended that the administration refrain from making major changes to the requirement this year in order to provide more time for researching ideas for the proposal to solve the problem that degree acceleration poses for the budget.
"These requirements are so basic to the degree program that changes can have a broad impact on students, and we felt that we needed more time to be able to adequately assess the effects of any [major] changes and to have more time to come up with different approaches that might mitigate the impact on students," Hewitt wrote.
The residency requirement is the number of semesters a student must complete on campus.
The administration originally proposed to increase the current requirement from seven to eight semesters in an effort to address the problem of revenue loss that occurs when seniors graduate in December, Jaffe explained to the?Justice in March.
However, Jaffe announced at the faculty meeting March 19 that the proposal was withdrawn due to faculty concerns that it would disadvantage students who need to graduate early for financial reasons.
At the April 2 faculty meeting, Jaffe had announced that he was working with Eddy on a new proposal that took into account these concerns. He had hoped to be able to present the new proposal implementing major changes to the requirement April 23.
Instead, Jaffe is working with Hewitt to concentrate on clarifying the language of the requirement and adjusting it to incorporate the Justice Brandeis Semester, according to Hewitt.
Jaffe and Vice President of Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy decided to postpone any major changes to the residency requirement on the recommendation of Hewitt and Dean of Admissions Gil Villanueva, wrote Hewitt in an e-mail to the Justice.
Hewitt wrote that he and Villanueva recommended that the administration refrain from making major changes to the requirement this year in order to provide more time for researching ideas for the proposal to solve the problem that degree acceleration poses for the budget.
"These requirements are so basic to the degree program that changes can have a broad impact on students, and we felt that we needed more time to be able to adequately assess the effects of any [major] changes and to have more time to come up with different approaches that might mitigate the impact on students," Hewitt wrote.
The residency requirement is the number of semesters a student must complete on campus.
The administration originally proposed to increase the current requirement from seven to eight semesters in an effort to address the problem of revenue loss that occurs when seniors graduate in December, Jaffe explained to the?Justice in March.
However, Jaffe announced at the faculty meeting March 19 that the proposal was withdrawn due to faculty concerns that it would disadvantage students who need to graduate early for financial reasons.
At the April 2 faculty meeting, Jaffe had announced that he was working with Eddy on a new proposal that took into account these concerns. He had hoped to be able to present the new proposal implementing major changes to the requirement April 23.
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