The backlog of seniors fulfilling the seminar requirement caused difficulties for younger students. Some seniors met the rule at the last minute by taking small writing courses. However, that shift took space from underclassmen who need those courses for another requirement, officials said.
At the same time, the writing program is anticipating that it may have to eliminate 30 of its 220 sections because of budget cuts, according to its director, Bruce Beiderwell.
The suspension of the seminar requirement will help some students graduate on time but is not something to celebrate, Beiderwell said. "Any suspended rule for economic necessity is highly unfortunate," he said. "It's a road I don't think anyone wants to go down."
Student leaders also had mixed reactions.
It will come as a relief to graduating seniors who have not yet met the requirement and will lift a burden from other students, said undergraduate student body President Homaira Hosseini. But students are likely to worry about further course cutbacks if the state reduces the university's funding as a result of the current economic crisis, she said.
"It's a bad foreshadowing," she said.
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larry.gordon@latimes.com
