The Sacramento State Faculty Senate approved a new general education policy Thursday that allows students to overlap nine lower and upper division units of GE courses with their major courses.

The policy, which was pitched to the Senate by Academic Affairs in early April, aims at minimizing student graduation setbacks, said Gregory Wheeler, associate dean of undergraduate studies in Academic Affairs

Once approved by Sac State President Alexander Gonzalez, the new policy will replace the four previous policies regarding GE overlap, Wheeler said.

Wheeler said the policy should benefit about 150-160 students who change their major after taking a GE course. He said Academic Affairs estimated the figure after accumulating data over the past few years.

The policy would benefit a student who had taken a history course to fulfill a GE requirement and then decides to change his or her major to history, Wheeler said. At that point, the original history course can be used to fulfill a major requirement instead of the GE requirement.

In some cases, students will not realize this until near graduation, which may be too late, Wheeler said.

“We try to help these students as much as possible, by substituting classes, but sometimes they have to come back for summer or another semester,” Wheeler said.

With the new policy, students will able to overlap the courses to credit both the major and GE requirement, saving time and money, Wheeler said. This will help a considerable number of students who encounter this problem.

During the Senate meeting members debated about the specifics of the policy before passing it, with many faculty proposing amendments.

Bob Buckley, professor of computer science, said he wanted the nine GE units to only overlap in lower division courses because allowing nine units to overlap with a student’s major “doesn’t sound like GE to me,” Buckley said.

He said the purpose of GE courses is to expose students to a well-rounded education outside of their major.

“In principle students can take all nine units in their major,” Buckley said.

However, only two Sac State majors are able to fulfill all nine units of GE in their major: Social Work and Women’s Studies, according to a handout distributed at the meeting.

Mike Lee, associate vice president and dean for Academic Programs, said he felt the current and suggested amendments would complicate the application of the policy. “Without the (original) proposal, it will be a nightmare,” Lee said, referring to programming the policy into DegreeQuest, a degree planning program set to be ready for students this fall.

Some professors including Scott Gordon, associate professor in computer science, said he wanted to know the impact of reducing the policy to six units, down from nine.

“It would be more flexible than it is now, but it wouldn’t necessarily help all of the students we’re trying to help,” said Tony Sheppard, associate professor in recreation and leisure studies.

Once the president has signed the proposed policy, it will go into effect immediately, Wheeler said. With Gonzalez’s approval, the policy will apply to all students attending Sac State, not just new students.

“The Senate had important concerns, but I am glad to see the majority approve the new policy,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler said it is likely that the new plan will be approved.

Binde Rai can be reached at [email protected]