Despite some initial worries about enrollment problems,
UCLA’s first student-led seminars by and large went off
without a hitch.
The seminars are the result of the new Undergraduate Student
Initiated Education program, in which student facilitators teach
one-unit seminars on a topic of their choice.
Program officials said they were pleased with the
seminars’ enrollment. Six of the 15 seminars are completely
full, and three others are wait-listed.
Many students said they were happy with their first seminar
sessions.
“It’s something really different,” third-year
English student Cristina Carrillo said. “(The student
facilitators provide) a young, fresh approach that students can
relate to.”
First-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student
Brittany Stephens also said the first day went well.
“The classes are smaller, and being on such a big campus
you don’t get that much,” she said.
A number of facilitators also said they were happy with their
way their first seminars went.
“It went very well,” said fourth-year political
science student Faith Christiansen, who co-facilitates a seminar
called Conservative Political Movements Among Youth in the U.S.
“There were a couple of people who weren’t here
because they were still in Indianapolis for the game,” she
said, but added that those students would return for the rest of
the classes.
Second-year business and political science student Combiz
Abdolrahimi, who facilitates a seminar on U.S.-Iran relations, said
the reason some students like these classes is because they do not
use the typical lecture format.
“It’s discussion-based,” he said. “It
seemed like everybody had a great time. I think they’re
really interested, and they want to take classes like
these.”
English Professor Robert Watson, who chaired the Student Faculty
Advisory Committee that helped develop the program, said the
seminars have been successful from an administrative perspective as
well.
“We’re certainly very happy that the program seems
to have evolved so quickly,” he said. “It’s
really pretty difficult to get an entire new program up and
running.”
Some students said they encountered logistical problems with
enrollment. Students could not enroll in the seminars until March
27, during spring break.
With the knowledge of the later registration date, some
facilitators had expressed concern that the late enrollment might
translate to poor attendance for the seminars.
“They should have the seminars offered (for enrollment on
URSA) before the quarter starts so you can plan your schedule
around it,” Carrillo said. “I don’t know that
it’s really well-publicized. I didn’t know when or
where to sign up.”
Stephens also said she thought students should have been better
informed of official enrollment times. When enrollment opened
earlier in the morning than she expected, she was closed out of her
first-choice seminar.
“They should open enrollment during normal URSA time or
they should announce the different time,” she said.
Abdolrahimi said the late enrollment was partly due to the fact
that the classes could not be confirmed until the student
facilitators completed the pedagogy courses they took during winter
quarter.
“That’s a problem because (by the time enrollment
opens on URSA) a lot of students have gone home for spring
break,” he said. “They’ve already picked their
classes.”
Watson said the seminars are currently operating as part of a
two-year pilot program, and that some changes will likely be made
before the College approves it permanently.
“Next year, we’ll try to fine-tune any problems that
came up,” he said. “What they need to see is that the
students who are enrolled in and facilitating the courses are
getting something out of it and aren’t treating it
irresponsibly. If we have a set of 15 or so courses that have gone
off pretty well, then I think we’re well-positioned to push
for it as a permanent program.”
Abdolrahimi said he hopes the program will not only become
permanent, but will eventually expand.
“I wish more classes could be offered, and hopefully in
the future that will be so,” he said.