Undergraduate council says students can no longer GRO Math 121 for 117

Although a majority of Math 121 is identical to Math 117, the council decided it was ineligible as a replacement because a GRO class must be exactly the same as the original class, said Susan Steele, associate vice provost for undergraduate education.

One course grade cannot replace another course's grade Ü even if the second class is a more difficult class, Steele said.

The Math Department had asked the Undergraduate Council to approve Math 121 as a GRO, said Ted Laetsch, acting coordinator for entry level math.

"The only reaction we have (to the vote) is that we need to make every effort we can to inform students of this change," he said.

Laetsch said the three-credit Math 117 is currently a requirement for many majors, but the four-credit Math 121 will replace it after next semester. The raise in requirements was planned to coincide with raised entrance requirements to the University of Arizona.

Students will be required to have four years of high school math when they enter next year's fall semester.

Steele said the council also used this vote as a precedent for future GRO questions that may arise.

If the council had accepted Math 121, then many other courses would follow suit, she said. "Students would say, 'this is almost the same, this one's almost the same.' "

Laetsch said the decision to eliminate Math 117 was made about four years ago.

"The wait came because we wanted to make sure everyone knew about the change. Students now have to place higher on the math placement tests," he said. "We wanted as many people as possible to have this information."

"We also wanted to explore different approaches to Math 121, in terms of structure," he said.

Although Laetsch said the content of Math 121 will remain virtually the same, the class does have some variations from Math 117.

"The major difference is much more calculator work, more applications and critical thinking and a larger review of previous materials," he said.

Marlene Hubbard, an adjunct mathematics professor, said the transition is going to be difficult.

"But if everything works the way it should, with students taking four years of math in high school, there shouldn't be a problem with those students placing into Math 121," she said.

Math 116 is offered for the last time this semester, while Math 117 will be offered through the spring.

"The courses will be gone after that," Steele said.

Some students felt cheated over the changes.

George Schwarz, a freshman history major, failed the UA's math placement exam, and is trying to take his math requirements at Pima Community College.

"It will be hard for me now that I have to do the basic stuff all over again there and then jump into 121 here," he said.

Karen Christensen, a freshman studio art major, said offering Math 117 for only one more semester could make some freshmen feel like they are pushed into a corner.

"Not everyone wants to get math over with next semester," she said.

"It would add to the frustration of college life, especially for freshmen, since 117 is mostly a freshman class," she said.

Philosophy sophomore Cindy Johnston said the Math 121 requirement, "is going to set non-science majors back. Liberal arts students will have to put more effort into math instead of their majors."