ARTICLES OF GOVERNMENT
ARTICLE I. Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor Arts.

Section 1. Units of Work

A. Each candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts is required to complete thirty two units of academic work. A unit of work represents one semester course, except as indicated in Section 1,F and Section 1,G. The normal period of time for earning the degree is four years and a normal program of study consists of from three to five units in each semester. A student may not carry fewer or more units than the normal program of study without the permission of the Class Dean. Students may elect a fifth course in any semester except the first semester of the first year. First-year students may elect a fifth course in the first semester only with the permission of the Class Dean.

B. A student who wishes to fulfill the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree on a part time basis may apply for admission in the Program for Continuing Education.

C. A student admitted with advanced standing from another institution must complete at least sixteen units of work at the College.

D. Normally a student may not be enrolled as an undergraduate for more than eight semesters without the permission of the Academic Review Board. Students who transfer to Wellesley will have a set number of semesters available to them at Wellesley, based on the amount of credit transferred. Non-resident students enrolled in the Elisabeth Kaiser Davis Degree Program are not subject to a time limit as long as they are making reasonable progress toward the degree.

E. A student desiring to enter medical school at the end of her junior year and to receive the Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley College must apply for such permission to the Academic Review Board. This permission will be granted only for students whose records at Wellesley have been unusually good. The Bachelor of Arts degree will be awarded only after the student has completed enough units to fulfill the thirty two required by Wellesley for the Bachelor of Arts. The units completed in medical school must be comparable to those offered at Wellesley. (Clinical courses will not be counted.)

F. Courses that meet for 300 minutes or more per week and involve, in addition, substantial time spent on course-related work outside of scheduled class meetings, may at the request of the department and with the permission of the Committee on Curriculum and Instruction be designated as 1.25 unit courses.

G. Courses may be offered for 0.5 units of credit with the approval of the Committee on Curriculum and Instruction.

Section 2. Distribution Requirements

A. In the manner prescribed below, each student is required to elect a total of nine units from the following distribution areas:

     1. Students must complete three units drawn from the following two distribution areas. At least one unit must come from each of these two areas.
          Language and Literature
          Visual Arts, Music, Theatre, Film, and Video
     2. Students must complete three units drawn from the following four distribution areas. One unit must come from the Social and Behavioral Analysis category; the two additional units must come from two of the three other categories.
          Social and Behavioral Analysis
          Epistemology and Cognition
          Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
          Historical Studies
     3. Students must complete three units from the following distribution areas. At least one unit must come from each of these two areas, and at least one unit must be a laboratory course.
          Natural and Physical Science
          Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving in the Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Computer Science

B. Two of the three units required in each group must be earned at Wellesley. One unit in each group may be earned by transfer credit from an approved course taken at another institution (see Article II, Section 2). Lab credit for a non-Wellesley unit will be evaluated by the appropriate science department chair.

C. Transfer students and continuing education students transferring in at least eight units of prior credit must earn at least one of the three distribution units in each group at Wellesley. Transfer students and continuing education students with sixteen prior units may fulfill distribution requirements by Wellesley courses or by approved units earned outside the regular course program (see Article II, Sections 1 and 2).

Section 3. Writing Requirement

Each candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts must successfully complete, by the end of her second semester at Wellesley, a course in the fundamentals of prose composition, numbered 125, offered in the Department of English and a number of other departments. This course does not satisfy the distribution requirements, nor will it count toward any major, with the exception of "combined sections", such as English 120/Writing 125. Transfer students and Davis Scholars who do not present a comparable course on entrance must also complete one course in expository writing, either a Writing 125 course or Writing 225.

Section 4. Foreign Language Requirement

Each candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts must show, ordinarily before the beginning of her senior year, that she has some proficiency in the use of at least one foreign language, ancient or modern. A student whose native language is not English will be exempted from this requirement, subject to the approval of the Academic Review Board. The foreign language requirement may be met in one of the following ways:

A. Subject to the final approval of the chair of the appropriate language department, by passing one of the language tests of the College Entrance Examination Board, either the SAT II at a score of at least 690, or the Advanced Placement Examination at a score of 5; or

B. by completing two units of language study at the second year college level, or, in cases where the student can demonstrate to the department involved that she has adequate preparation, by completing one unit of work at the third year college level or higher. Fulfillment of the foreign language requirement through work done at another institution must be approved by the appropriate department. This requirement may not be met by independent work (250 or 350).

Section 5. Multicultural Requirement

Each candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts must successfully complete one unit of coursework that focuses on (1) African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American, Native American, or Pacific Island peoples, cultures or societies; and/or (2) a minority American culture, such as those defined by race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or physical ability; and/or (3) the processes of racism, social or ethnic discrimination, or cross-cultural interaction. Each student,with the approval of her first-year advisor, her departmental major or minor advisor, or her class dean, will choose a course or courses to meet this requirement. The multicultural requirement may be satisfied with a course that also satisfies a distribution requirement.

Section 6. Quantitative Reasoning Requirement

Each candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts must show that she has some proficiency in quantitative reasoning. There are two parts to this requirement.Students may satisfy the first part of the requirement by passing a quantitative reasoning assessment administered by the college, or by passing a quantitative reasoning basic skills course. Each student must satisfy this part of the quantitative reasoning requirement in her first year.

Each student must also successfully complete a course that emphasizes the analysis and interpretation of data; this course may be in any discipline and may also satisfy a distribution requirement. Courses that fulfill the second part of the quantitative reasoning requirement are listed in the catalog. Students who propose to satisfy the requirement with a course not designated as a quantitative reasoning course are invited to petition the Committee on Curriculum and Instruction.

Section 7. Further Requirements

A. Each student shall complete one unit of physical education, Physical Education 121. A unit is comprised of a total of eight points. Each course offered for credit toward 121 is assigned a point value. Each student should register for a minimum of two seasons of physical education a year until the unit is complete, ordinarily by the end of the junior year. Courses are graded on a credit/noncredit basis. (See Article VII, C.)

B. Each student shall include in her program at least four units of Grade III work, at least two of which must be taken in the junior and/or senior year. All courses are classified in Grade I, II, or III (Grade I including elementary courses and Grade III the most advanced courses); this grading should be made by the department subject to the approval of Academic Council.

C. The following restrictions must be observed in reckoning the thirty two units required for the degree of Bachelor of Arts:

     1. No more than eight units may be earned through courses taken at another institution during a one year leave of absence (no more than four units during a one-semester leave of absence). (See Article II, Section 2.)

     2. No more than two of the following two unit courses may be counted: Chinese 101, French 101 102, German 101-102, Greek 102, Hebrew 101-102, Italian 101-102, Russian 101-102, Spanish 101-102.

     3. Of the last four semesters completed for the degree, a normal course load must be taken at Wellesley in two consecutive semesters.

     4. Normally, a student may earn no more than 2 units toward the degree as the result of accumulation of fractional units through 1.25 unit courses.

     5. Normally, a student may earn no more than 2 units toward the degree as the result of accumulation of fractional units through 0.5 unit courses.

     6. Ordinarily no more than two units of 350 or MIT UROP may be taken in one department.

Section 8. The Major Field

A. Of the thirty two units required for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, at least eight units must be elected in the major field and at least eighteen units must be elected outside of any one department. For the purposes of meeting this requirement, Art History and Studio Art, and Greek and Latin, are considered as separate departments.

B. Plans for the major shall include a statement of the courses which will compose the major.

     1. Departmental or Interdepartmental Major. Each student who plans a departmental or interdepartmental major shall present a plan for the major to the Registrar and to the department or to the director of the interdepartmental major no later than the spring of the sophomore year and not before the fall of the sophomore year. Students who plan to study away must present a plan for the major in the fall of the sophomore year. Guidelines for planning these majors may be found in the Catalog, in departmental or interdepartmental Directions for Election.

     2. The Individual Major. A student who wishes to pursue a course of study other than those listed as departmental or interdepartmental or a major not currently offered by a department should in the spring of the sophomore year:

          a. Submit a plan of study to two faculty members, not in the same department, and to the Committee on Curriculum and Instruction. Approved plans will be forwarded to the Registrar by the Committee on Curriculum and Instruction. This plan should include a statement outlining the reasons for wishing to pursue a special course of study and the proposed program. Ordinarily, the plan should include a minimum of eight units above the introductory level, four of which should be in one department.

          b. The Committee on Curriculum and Instruction shall:

               1) Act upon the program if the major is (a) requested by only one student or (b) requested by a small number of students who have chosen a program set up by a faculty member or a department, or

               2) Appoint a chair of an ad hoc committee who will be joined by other interested faculty to act on the requests of a significant number of students.

          c. While the major is being planned, each student should have an interview with the chair or member of the department(s) of the major. The signature(s) connoting departmental approval must appear on each student's plan. Signatures of approval are also needed for any change of elective which affects the plan for the major.

C. At least four units in the major must be above the introductory (Grade I) level and at least two units must be at the advanced (Grade III) level.

D. If a student chooses to major in two fields, the requirements described in Section 5, A through C, must be satisfied in each field.

Section 9. The Minor Field

A. A department has the option of designing and offering a minor in addition to a major. The plan for the minor must be approved by the Committee on Curriculum and Instruction.

B. A minor shall consist of a minimum of five units, at least three of which shall be above the Grade I level. At least one of these shall be at the Grade III level, unless the Committee on Curriculum and Instruction grants an exception.

C. Individual minors will not be approved. A student may not construct a minor in a sub-field of her major.

D. A course which is needed to satisfy the minimum major requirements may not be counted for a minor in a related field; however, additional courses within the major which are taken in a related department may be counted towards a minor in that department.

E. No student may elect more than one minor.

F. A student may not elect a minor if she has more than one major.