By Hanna van Leent
Staff Writer
As students of UCR, we have all chosen an education that teaches you to be critical; whether it’s through looking for academic sources, or looking at ways in which we can improve overall education. When you think of the academic policy here at UCR it is a good one on the whole, but there are some policies that we might disagree with and might want to improve. This article will concern itself with the main debates that contribute to the discussion on the improvement of our education. We are all in a Liberal Arts and Sciences education and actively made this decision, and therefore criticizing the intrinsic values of this form of university teaching is not the aim of this article. What I will argue is that there are some policies that might need some revision, such as the hassle around the language requirement and the inability to get credit on your diploma for any summer/winter courses that are taken without a lack of credit.
The language requirement has been a much-debated topic in UCR, from problems getting credit from summer courses to the actual use of it. In my opinion, the language requirement is useful because it breaks language barriers and opens the door to exploring all kinds of academic material irrespective of the language. The problem is that French, German, Spanish or Dutch are not always the ideal choice of language for a student. Languages such as Arabic, Chinese, and Italian might be preferred and more useful for students to study. Of course, UCR is a small university and making new courses available is expensive. It might therefore be an idea to collaborate with language schools in Zeeland or elsewhere to allow students to take classes in languages not provided here at university.
Secondly, in all of the 100-level language entrance exams, there is a focus on grammar only. This rules out the fact that a student might be good at other facets of a language, such as vocabulary or general language proficiency, and will therefore be placed in a lower level that is likely too easy. The failure of the entrance exam might also financial consequences for students. It has occurred that some have had to take an extra course during the summer in order to fulfill their language requirement, a remedy which is very costly and might not even be accepted as a proof of language proficiency.
Furthermore, it is not possible to get credit from an off-campus program in addition to the 180 ECTS credits required for graduation. Because a student is in good academic standing, and on track to graduate, additional credit cannot be attained. The program does contribute a student’s CV, but it is not integrated with the diploma. This might discourage students from taking summer/winter educational programs other than the language courses. However, a diploma with summer/winter schools integrated into it can be advantageous when applying to a master’s program, especially when the credit is legitimized by UCR.
It is also possible to encourage students to take courses at other universities, which would have positive effects in two ways. Firstly, students can take subjects that are not taught at UCR and are mandatory for their application to their desired master’s degree. Secondly, other universities would get to know UCR students and this would give us more opportunities to act as ambassadors on behalf of the UCR. This would have a positive result when the student wants to apply to a master’s program at other universities.
I think there are many aspects of UCR’s academic policy that are fair. There are things that can be improved starting with changes to the language requirement; there should be more languages offered. Apart from that, students should be allowed to get credit in addition to the required 180 ECTS.
Hanna van Leent, class of 2015, is a History major from Rodenrijs, the Netherlands.
