Goals of an Undergraduate Education

The faculty of UCR hereby declare the following set of general educational goals to be pursued through our individual and collective efforts in teaching and guiding the undergraduates of this campus.

A university education must help students realize their potential as individuals and contributing participants in society. This involves the acquisition of knowledge and skills, as well as preparation for future responsibilities.

A general education provides a framework that enables one to appreciate and critically examine the significant aspects of civilization. This framework is derived from the study of world history; political and economic systems; the ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity of the peoples of the Earth; the arts and letters of all cultures; the social and natural sciences; and technology. Such a broad education is the foundation for concentrated studies that enable students to prepare for careers and to strive for an understanding of the world in which they live and about which they must make decisions.

A university education nurtures the critical skills of oral and written communication, including the exercise of these skills in a language other than one’s own. It must teach students to become verbally and quantitatively literate, to analyze and synthesize, and to regard the acquisition of knowledge as a lifetime activity. A university education must promote tolerance of the opinions of others and an understanding of the mutual dependence of human beings on each other and on their natural environment. The student’s university years also provide an opportunity to develop integrity, self-esteem, self-discipline, style, humanness, commitment to the general welfare, sensitivity to the interplay of environment and technology, and confidence that the human drama is worthy of a lengthy future.

UCR has three undergraduate colleges and one undergraduate school that offer bachelor’s degrees: Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Natural and Agricultural Sciences; Engineering, and Business Administration.

Requirements for the bachelor’s degree vary according to the college and major selected. There are three kinds of requirements: general university, college, and major.

• 1. General University requirements

Entry Level Writing American History and Institutions Unit Scholarship Residence

• 2. College breadth requirements

English Composition Humanities Social Sciences Ethnicity Foreign Language Natural Sciences and Mathematics Additional Courses

• 3. Major requirements

Lower-Division or Core Courses Upper-Division Courses

Students should plan a program of study carefully and consult an academic advisor. Students are responsible for meeting all requirements for graduation.

General university requirements are university-wide requirements that all undergraduates must satisfy. The following regulations and requirements are applicable to all undergraduate students on the Riverside campus.

All university faculty assume that students are proficient in reading and writing English, and that they understand how to compose an essay on an academic topic. For this reason, students are asked to provide proof of their writing ability on entering the university.

Completion of the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement (formerly known as the the Subject A requirement) is a prerequisite to ENGL 001A. The UC Entry Level Writing Requirement may be completed after enrollment in the university by passing an Entry Level Writing Requirement course as directed by the Director of Entry Level Writing (see below). It may be completed before enrollment in any one of the following ways:

• 1. Receiving a score of 680 or above on the SAT II: Writing Subject Test of

the College Board.

• 2. Achieving a a score of 30 on the ACT Combined English/Writing test or a

score of 680 or higher on the SAT Reasoning test (Writing section).

• 3. Receiving a score of 3, 4, or 5 on the College Board Advanced Placement

Test in English. (In addition to fulfilling the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement, a score of 3 satisfies the ENGL 001A requirement; a score of 4 or 5 satisfies the ENGL 001A and ENGL 001B requirements.)

• 4. Receiving a score of 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate

Higher Level Examination in English (Language A only).

• 5. Completion with a grade of “C” or better of a 4 quarter unit or

3 semester unit college-level course in English composition, taken at another institution before the student enters the university and judged acceptable by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

• 6. Receiving a passing grade on the UC Analytical Writing Placement

Exam (formerly known as the Subject A Exam) administered by the UC System.

All freshmen from California high schools who have not met the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement and who are entering in the fall quarter must take the two-hour university-wide UC Analytical Writing Placement Exam to be administered throughout the state. The examination is normally given the second Saturday in May.

In late April, California freshmen who have been admitted to at least one UC campus and who are not exempt from the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement will be mailed notification of the test; a test ticket; a bill for $65, and a pamphlet giving an explanation of the testing procedures, the nearest test location, the time and date, and telephone numbers to call with questions.

Out-of-state students, students admitted after the test notification date, and students entering in winter and spring take the examination on campus. Once students have taken the test, they receive a payment card which they should mail to the address on the card. The card must be accompanied by a $65 check.

Students also have an opportunity to pass the requirement in UCR’s summer sessions by passing ENGL 004 or ENGL 005 before they become full-time students in the fall. They can also take a pre-ENGL 001A class during the summer at a local college or university before they become full-time students at UCR. Students taking summer courses not at UCR can then retake the UC Analytical Writing Placement Exam at UCR at the end of the summer.

Students who have not met the requirement upon entrance to UCR are placed into one of the following UCR courses of instruction. Placement in these courses is determined by the Director of Entry Level Writing and is based on the student’s performance on the UC Analytical Writing Placement Exam.

• 1. BSWT 003 (an ESL course preparatory to ENGL 004)
• 2. ENGL 004
• 3. ENGL 005
• 4. A qualifier course plus ENGL 006D
• 5. ENGL 01PA

50 / Undergraduate Studies

To pass the Entry Level Writing Requirement (once enrolled as full-time students), students must earn a course grade of “C” (2.0) or better in ENGL 004, ENGL 005, ENGL 01PA, or earn a course grade of “C” (2.0) or better in a qualifier course approved by the English Department and the Academic Senate.

ENGL 01PA students and qualifier students with a “C-” or below must pro- ceed to ENGL 005 or another qualifier course.

See the UCR Entry Level Writing Requirement Web site (english.ucr.edu/elwr/ index.html) for further information. According to systemwide regulations, any student who has not satisfied the Entry Level Writing Requirement after three quarters of university residence (three quarters of enrollment during the regular academic year) is not normally eligible to enroll for a fourth quarter at the University of California. (For students placed in BSWT 003, this three-quarter residence rule begins after satisfactory completion of BSWT 003 or at the start of their fourth quarter of regular enrollment at UCR, whichever comes first.) Students are encouraged to complete the requirement as soon as possible in their freshman year.

Candidates for a bachelor’s degree must satisfy the requirement in American History and Institutions by demonstrating a knowledge of American history and of American political institutions and ideals. The requirement may be satisfied by satisfactory completion of any one of the following:

• 1. One (1) high school unit in American History, or 1⁄2 high school unit in

American History and 1⁄2 high school unit in civics or American Government

• 2. The requirement in a junior college or other accredited institution

• 3. One college course in the field of American History or one college

course in the field of American Government. UCR courses that fulfill this requirement are HIST 017A or 017B, POSC 010, POSC 100, and POSC 113

Students applying for one of the teacher credential programs should check with the Graduate School of Education concerning limitations on ways of meeting this requirement.

Further information regarding the requirement and how to meet it by examination may be obtained from the chair of the Committee on Preparatory Education.

A minimum of 180 units of academic work with a grade point average of 2.00 in all courses undertaken in the UC is required for graduation.

Not more than 6 units of physical education activities courses, no 400 series course, and not more than three courses in the 300 series may be counted toward the 180 unit requirement.

To receive a bachelor’s degree, students must obtain twice as many grade points as units (2.00 grade point) for all courses attempted in the university. An exception to this rule is made for those students undertaking certain honors courses.

The minimum residence at the UC required for a degree is three quarters. One of the three quarters may be completed in a UCR summer session in which the student carries 12 units, unless a reduced load is approved in advance by the dean of the student’s college.

Courses completed in UC Extension are not considered work in residence, even if taken through concurrent enrollment.

Thirty-five (35) of the final 45 units must be earned in residence in the student’s college (this does not preclude the student from taking courses in other colleges on campus). For students who are enrolled in the Education Abroad Program, UC Washington, D.C. program, or UC Sacramento Program, 35 of the final 90 units, including the final 12 units, must be earned in residence. Eighteen (18) of the 35 units may be completed in summer session courses on the Riverside campus. With the approval of the dean of a student’s college or school, a candidate for the bachelor’s degree who was in active service in the armed forces of the United States in the year preceding the awarding of the degree may be recommended for the degree after only one quarter of university residence in which the candidate completes at least 16 units or passes a comprehensive examination in the major or field of concentration.