UW-Madison College of Letters and Science returning and transfer students will have the ability to opt in"" to new Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree requirements, according to a new curriculum required for first-time students beginning this fall.
""The new liberal arts curriculum builds on our traditional strengths in broad academic fields that are at the heart of a great University of Wisconsin education,"" L&S Dean Gary Sandefur said on the 2007 Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science Degree website.
The new 2007 curriculum - BABS07 - is being implemented by Sandefur as a revision of the older student curriculum - CURRIC71 - that had not been modified since 1971.
""Now [the degree's] been simplified to a point where we hope that it makes the degree more transparent and more user friendly for students,"" said Tori Richardson, assistant dean in L&S Student Academic Affairs.
In an effort to make requirements more comprehensive for incoming UW-Madison students and parents, as well as student advisers and faculty members, the new degree eliminates some of the confusing ""credit rules"" that face returning students.
Returning students can choose to ""opt in"" to the new degree by simply clicking a button on an online form. If students choose to switch into the new curriculum, they will be able to revert back to CURRIC71 with a dean's permission.
Under BABS07, students will still need a minimum of 120 credits to graduate, a study load within a range of 12 to 18 credits per semester and completion of University General Education Requirements.
Modifications to the curriculum allow for more courses - such as P.E. courses - to count toward degree credit as electives that did not qualify before BABS07.
""The students will have the opportunity now to have up to 12 credits of what we call 'free electives in the degree,'"" Richardson said.
These ""free electives"" must come from UW-Madison Divisional Executive Committee approved coursework.
All courses counting in L&S will be called ""Liberal Arts and Science Credit,"" and students will need 108 of those credits - eight more than the older requirements.
Additionally, under the new curriculum, undergraduates who receive passing grades in graduate courses could be awarded undergraduate degree credit, which was not available in the 1971 curriculum.
Richardson advised returning students to review information on the new curriculum website ""www.lssaa.wisc.edu/babs07"":http://www.lssaa.wisc.edu/babs07 before changing degrees.
According to the BABS07 website, L&S administrators have been working on changes to the liberal arts curriculum since 2000. The L&S Faculty Senate approved the revisions in 2005.
