The University Senate will vote on a proposal to lower the Language Other Than English requirements for online degree completion programs Monday. In the proposed plan, online degree completion programs could lower their requirement to two levels of language classes, as opposed to the three levels the University currently requires.
Degree completion programs allow adults who have completed some college but do not have a bachelor’s degree to obtain one through online courses. Those who support the proposal say lowering the LOTE requirement would make degree completion easier for those who typically enroll in the programs.
“These are adult students who have been out of school for a while, so they don’t maintain the proficiency they need to jump right into the third level,” said Nolan Miller, Educational Policy Committee chair and professor in Business, at the Oct. 13 Senate meeting.
The proposed online Bachelor of Liberal Studies program is actively looking to lower its LOTE requirements to two levels, and the College of Media and College of Fine and Applied Arts also expressed interest in lowering the language requirement for their respective online programs, according to Miller.
Julie Gaillard, professor in LAS in the Department of French & Italian, voiced her opposition to the proposal at the Oct. 13 University Senate meeting.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
“Since the beginning of this discussion … languages have been framed as a barrier to education in a way that no other general education requirement has,” Gaillard said.
Gaillard also expressed concern that lowering the language requirements would “open the door for a more generalized erosion of this campus’ commitment to multiculturalism and intercultural understanding.”
In the past week, faculty from the Department of Spanish & Portuguese, as well as the Department of French & Italian, submitted letters of opposition for senators to consider before voting.
The letters proposed several solutions for students looking to minimize the time they spend on language courses. These suggestions include a new online Spanish course, proficiency exams and courses that integrate multiple requirements.
Proponents of the lowered requirements have outlined other benefits to lowering the LOTE requirement, including the competitive edge they say it could give the University.
“One of the most compelling (reasons) is that peer competitors in this space don’t require it,” Miller said at the Nov. 3 Senate Executive Meeting. “It may be true that (students) choose which online completion program to be in based on the language requirement.”
Miller also noted that, under the Illinois Articulation Initiative, foreign language is not a general education requirement, while subjects like quantitative reasoning are.
Patrick Holt, junior in ACES and student senator on the Educational Policy Committee, told The Daily Illini he will vote against the proposal.
“I think the motivating factor is trying to figure out how to shovel more students into the program so that they can make more money,” Holt said. “I think that the lowering of this requirement is not motivated at all by any sort of academic objective.”
More representatives from the Department of French & Italian will be speaking at Monday’s Senate meeting before the vote. If approved, the policy would immediately allow programs to propose reductions in LOTE requirements.
