UC San Diego General Catalog: 2007-2008

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Revelle College

Revelle College Courses, Curricula and Program of Instruction

Revelle College, the first college on the UCSD campus, was named in honor of Dr. Roger Revelle, former university-wide dean of research and for many years director of UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Dr. Revelle is perhaps best known for his prediction of the Greenhouse Effect.

The initiation of Revelle College in 1958 provided the faculty with the opportunity to design a complete undergraduate curriculum for some of the country's best-prepared students. The faculty asked the fundamental question, What should an educated person know? The Revelle College general-education requirements offer a specific but broad introduction to the academic disciplines of the university. A student graduating from Revelle College will have attained:

1. a basic knowledge of calculus; foreign language; the physical, biological, and social sciences; the fine arts; and the humanities
2. preprofessional competence in an academic discipline
3. an understanding of an academic area outside his or her major discipline.

Although the basic-knowledge requirement above is from a wide-range sampling of disciplines, the specific courses that satisfy the requirement are professional introductions to the subjects. For example, the humanities requirement is satisfied by a fine-tuned, five-quarter core course taught by some of the university's most respected senior faculty, and an intensive writing program is integrated into the course. The physical sciences courses require basic mathematics, and the language requirement is four courses (or the equivalent). There are two calculus sequences: One is designed for students who will use calculus in their major; the other is an overview, often taken by life sciences, social science, humanities, and art students.

General-Education Requirements

Students are encouraged to meet the general-education requirements and the prerequisites to the major early in their university career.

Freshmen with Advanced Placement credits can use many of these advanced courses to meet general-education requirements (see Advanced Placement chart in “Undergraduate Admissions, Policies and Procedures”). Transfer students may meet all general-education requirements before entering by following articulation agreements with community colleges or taking, at any institution, courses which Revelle College judges approximately equivalent in content to those at UCSD.

The general-education requirements are:

1. Satisfaction of the general University of California requirements in Entry-Level Writing and American History and Institutions.
2. A five-course sequence in an interdisciplinary humanities program including two six-unit courses with intensive instruction in university-level writing. Written work is also required in the remaining (four-unit) three-quarter courses.
3. One course in the fine arts.
4. Two lower-division courses from the same department chosen from Anthropology, Critical Gender Studies, Economics, Human Development, Linguistics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, or Urban Studies and Planning.
5. At least one course in American Cultures from an approved list, available on http://revelle.ucsd.edu. (TAG students exempt.)
6. Three courses in calculus.
7. Five courses in the physical and biological sciences to include four quarters of physics and chemistry and one quarter of biology.
8. Basic conversational and reading proficiency in a modern foreign language, or advanced reading proficiency in a classical language. This requirement can be met by passage of a UCSD proficiency exam offered in a selected number of languages (in which case the result is posted to the transcript), or by completion of the fourth quarter (or third semester) of foreign language instruction with a passing grade, or with an equivalent Advanced Placement Exam score of 4 or an SAT II Language Exam score of 700 or higher.
9. Three courses in an area unrelated to the major and focused in one department, subject area, or topic.

1. UC Entry-Level Writing Requirement and American History and Institutions

Satisfaction of the university requirements in writing (UC Entry-Level Writing Requirement) and American History and Institutions. (See “UC Entry-Level Writing Requirement,” “Undergraduate Registration,” “Academic Regulations,” “Humanities,” and “Undergraduate Admissions, Policies and Procedures: American History and Institutions.”)

2. Humanities

The humanities requirement confronts students with significant humanistic issues in the context of a rigorous course. It is also an introduction to the academic disciplines of history, literature, and philosophy and provides training and practice in rhetorical skills, and particularly persuasive written expression.

Students may satisfy this requirement by completing the five-quarter interdisciplinary (history, literature, and philosophy) humanities sequence. Students must satisfy the UC Entry-Level Writing Requirement before registering for Humanities 1.

Intensive writing instruction in university-level writing is integrated in Humanities 1 and 2. Writing assignments are required in the remaining three courses.

For course descriptions, see “Courses, Curricula, and Programs of Instruction: Humanities.”

3. Fine Arts

One course is required. It serves as an introduction to creativity in theatre, dance, music, or visual arts. (See “Courses, Curricula, and Programs of Instruction: Theatre and Dance, Music, and Visual Arts.”)

4. Social Sciences

Two lower-division courses from the same department chosen from Anthropology, Critical Gender Studies, Economics, Human Development, Linguistics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, or Urban Studies and Planning.

5. American Cultures

At least one course in American Cultures from an approved list, available on http://revelle.ucsd.edu. (TAG students exempt.)

6. Calculus

Three quarters of calculus are required. There are two beginning-year sequences which meet the Revelle College calculus requirement. Both sequences include integral and differential calculus. Freshman placement in these sequences depends upon the student’s preparation in mathematics. Students are urged to keep their mathematical skills at a high level by taking mathematics during their senior year in high school. (See “Courses, Curricula, and Programs of Instruction: Mathematics.”)

7. Natural Sciences

The natural science courses present current developments in the fundamental concepts of modern physics, chemistry, and biology.

Students choose their five required physical and biological science courses from the following sequences depending upon their interests, prior preparation, and intended majors. The Department of Chemistry offers Chemistry 11, 12, 13 (for non-science majors), Chemistry 6A-B-C, and 6AH-BH-CH (honors). The Department of Physics offers four acceptable sequences: Physics 1A-B-C, 2A-B-C-D, and 4A-B-C-D-E, and 11A (for non-science majors). The Department of Biology offers Biology 1 or 3 or 10 (for non-science majors) to meet the Revelle biology requirement. (See “Chemistry,” “Physics,” and “Biology” in the “Courses, Curricula, and Programs of Instruction” section of this catalog.)

Students planning to major in a science must consult the appropriate departmental listing under “Courses, Curricula, and Programs of Instruction” to find the additional preparation needed for their major.

8. Foreign Language

Revelle College students are required to demonstrate basic conversational and reading proficiency in any modern foreign language, or advanced reading proficiency in a classical language or complete the fourth quarter of foreign language instruction with a passing grade.

Modern foreign language programs are currently offered in Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and classical language programs are offered in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Students who have preparation in other languages should contact Revelle College Academic Advising for information on a proficiency examination. This exam may also be taken by native speakers of any foreign language without further course study.

9. Area of Focus

Three courses in an area noncontiguous to the major are required. The three courses must be interrelated and should focus on some discipline, subject area, or topic. For the purposes of this requirement, the humanities/arts, the social sciences, and the natural sciences/engineering/mathematics are considered three different areas. Courses from a single department will be considered focused. Courses from more than one department should be approved prior to enrolling. The area of focus is not posted to the diploma or transcript.

These three courses may not be used on any other requirements. These courses may be upper-division or lower-division but one should keep in mind that graduation requirements stipulate that at least sixty units of all work must be from upper-division courses. The courses may be taken pass/not pass and Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate credits may be used.

Students may complete an optional noncontiguous minor to replace this requirement, if they wish to do so.

Sample Program

* Science majors may want to take part of the social science requirement in the junior year to allow time for additional science laboratories and/or calculus.

Transfer Students

Transfer students may enter Revelle College by following community college articulation agreements which can be viewed at www.ASSIST.org or by signing up for specific Transfer Admissions Guarantee (TAG) plans or by following the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC). However, Revelle College does not accept IGETC as satisfaction of all its lower-division requirements. Revelle accepts IGETC courses to meet requirements with additional classes in science, calculus, and foreign language. (Students are exempt from the language requirement if they can pass proficiency in a foreign language. Note: Proficiency exams are not available in all languages. Consult Revelle College Academic Advising for more information.) Science and mathematics majors will need these additional classes in preparation (or to meet prerequisites) for their major. The additional math/science classes or language classes can be taken at the community college or after transfer to UCSD. See details on our Web site at http://revelle.ucsd.edu/prospective/igetc+.html.

The Major

All undergraduate majors offered at UCSD are available to Revelle College students. An exceptional student who has some unusual but definite academic interest for which a suitable major is not offered on the San Diego campus may, with the consent of the provost of the college and with the assistance of a faculty advisor, plan his or her own major. The Revelle Individual Major must be submitted no later than three quarters before the student’s intended graduation and be approved by the Executive Committee of the college before it may be accepted in lieu of a departmental or interdepartmental major. The faculty advisor will supervise the student’s work, and the provost must certify that the student has completed the requirements of the individual major before the degree is granted.

Students who fail to attain a grade-point average of at least 2.0 in work taken in the prerequisites for the major, or in the courses in the major, may, at the option of the department, be denied the privilege of entering or of continuing in that major. Students majoring in bioengineering, bioinformatics, ICAM, CSE, ECE, or math/computer science need to be aware of additional screening for acceptance into the major.

Optional Minor

A minor is not required in Revelle College. However, if a student wishes to complete a Department Minor or a Project Minor and have it posted to the transcript, he or she may do so.

If a student completes either of these types of minors in a field noncontiguous to that of the major, it will replace the three-course noncontiguous area of focus general education requirement.

There are two types of minors available at Revelle College:

1. Department Minor—All courses for the minor are taken in one department and they are chosen with the advice and approval of a minor advisor in that department.
2. Project Minor—A project minor focuses on a topic or period chosen by the student. The project is often interdepartmental and interdisciplinary. The program must have the approval of a minor advisor. (See Academic Regulations: Undergraduate Minors and Programs of Concentrations.)

The current university guidelines for the minor require seven courses (twenty-eight units), five of which must be upper-division. Students who entered prior to January 1, 1998, may complete their six course (twenty-four unit), three upper-division course minors.

Enhancing Your Education

Students may participate in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) and UCSD’s Opportunities Abroad Program (OAP) while still making regular progress toward graduation. Information on EAP/OAP is detailed in the Education Abroad Program section of the UCSD General Catalog. Interested students should contact the Programs Abroad Office in the International Center and visit the Web site at http://www.icenter/pao. Financial aid recipients may apply aid to the program and special study abroad scholarships are readily available.

Programs are now available for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. With careful planning students should be able to fulfill some general-education, major, and/or minor requirements while studying abroad.

Pass/Not Pass Grading Option

1. No more than one-fourth of an undergraduate student’s total course units taken at UCSD and counted in satisfaction of degree requirements may be graded on a Pass/Not Pass basis.
2. Courses used to satisfy the noncontiguous area of focus may be taken on a Pass/Not Pass basis. Use of Pass/Not Pass grades on the optional minor is decided by the department.
3. Courses taken as electives may be taken on a Pass/Not Pass basis.
4. The following general education courses may be taken Pass/Not Pass: American cultures, fine arts, language and area of focus. Non-science majors may take courses for the natural science requirement Pass/Not Pass.
5. Upper-division courses to be counted toward a departmental major may not be taken on a Pass/Not Pass basis. Individual departments may authorize exceptions to this regulation.

The Graduation Requirements

To graduate from Revelle College, a student must:

1. Satisfy the University of California requirements, including the UC Entry-Level Writing Requirement and American History and Institutions.
2. Satisfy the general-education requirements.
3. Successfully complete a major consisting of at least twelve upper-division courses as stipulated by the department and meet the department’s major residence requirement if applicable.
4. Complete a minimum of fifteen upper-division courses (60 units).
5. Pass at least 184 units for the B.A./B.S. degree. (No more than 3.0 units of physical education, whether earned at UCSD or transferred from another institution, may be counted towards graduation.)
6. Attain a C average (2.0) or better in all work attempted at the University of California (exclusive of University Extension). Departments may require a C average in all upper-division courses used for the major and/or at least C– grades in each course used for the major.
7. Meet the senior residence requirement. (See “Academic Regulations: Senior Residence.”)

Honors

Particularly well-prepared students are invited to join a freshman honors program, which includes weekly participation in small faculty seminars (Revelle 20). Acceptance into the honors program at admission is automatic for Regents Scholars and National Merit Scholars as well as those students entering with a high school GPA of 3.8 or higher and verbal and math SAT scores of 700 or higher. Admission to the program's winter quarter is offered to those who achieve a 3.7 GPA in at least twelve graded units taken at UCSD during the fall quarter. A variety of other perquisites are also awarded. Outstanding students are individually advised to participate in small honors classes in chemistry, mathematics, physics, and social science.

Quarterly provost’s honors, honors at graduation, departmental honors, and Phi Beta Kappa honors are awarded. At least five outstanding graduating seniors are honored at graduation each year with a monetary honorarium. An honors banquet is given for the top two hundred students in Revelle each spring. Seniors are selected for participation in honors seminars. For additional information, see “Revelle Honors Program” and “Honors” in the index.

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