Word Shift

As blog readers will likely know, UC-San Diego received much bad press when an internal report noted that many incoming freshmen were arriving without a working knowledge of high school math.*

Now the systemwide Academic Senate is being asked to deal with recommendations to deal with the issue.** Comments are due May 19.

Some of the proposed changes seem to be to find euphemisms for the word "remedial." Coursework in that category is now referred to using phrases such as "pre-college-level preparatory." However, the policy remains that college credit is not to be given for such courses. 

Much of the proposal is focused on clarifying responsibility and making technical updates with regard to writing courses. 

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*Example: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/math-decline-ucsd/684973/.

**https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/underreview/council-chair-systemwide-senate-review-revisions-sbl-192-sr-636-761.pdf.