University College, the testament to Washington University’s early history as an evening educational institution serving a large immigrant population, offers some unique opportunities to its students. Unfortunately, many of its courses are either denied to full-time undergraduate students, or when allowed, rarely receive the attention or endorsement they deserve.

Many students know they can take courses in University College, but relatively few do. This is perhaps in part because the idea of sitting in class at night—instead of socializing or studying—is alien to most full-time students. But those who can get past the matter of the time face a number of restrictions. First, a student may not take more than one University College course per semester. As many of these classes are not available directly from the College of Arts & Sciences, including some languages taught exclusively through University College, this fixed rule unnecessarily limits educational exploration and the completion of a liberal arts education.

Even more troublesome to us is the ban on independent study courses by full-time undergraduates with University College faculty. There are many niche areas of study lacking an academic expert in the College of Arts & Sciences (ArtSci) where a true authority can be found in University College. For instance, one wishing to do an independent study on the Balkans will encounter problems in that the closest specialties of any ArtSci professors in relevant departments are Germany and Eastern Europe. On the other hand, University College has an instructor whose precise area of expertise is the Balkans. Under the present rules, said student would be denied the opportunity to engage in independent study with said professor and could thus not properly explore their unconventional academic interests. Needless to say, this is greatly disheartening for such students who find experts capable of guiding their studies only to be disallowed by institutional red tape.

Though University College instructors may serve as thesis advisers or secondary readers, it is quite rare that this happens. Many students are not even aware that this option exists because the process for doing so is neither obvious nor well advertised. Accordingly, what could be a great source of thesis aid to seniors is utilized far less than ought to be the case. Especially with the number of seniors who have trouble finding secondary readers, the failure to better inform the student body of this option is highly disconcerting.

As it stands, there are only two components within the existing structure that are sound. First is allowing enrollment generally within University College courses by full-time day students. Second is limiting certain courses to graduate students. The logic there is that the average student, even with substantial upper-level coursework in a given area, may be unqualified for masters level coursework, and the student has not been formally admitted to pursue such a course of study. Naturally though, the former is too limited in scope, and the latter little different from the restrictions that apply to graduate courses in other University divisions.

Ultimately, given the University’s mission of providing its students with a well-rounded education in both the liberal arts and real world skills, the present limitations and underutilization of the resources of the University College must not continue. While we believe the University should continue to place some restrictions on the number of courses students can take through University College to prevent abuse, we believe the University should significantly expand and promote the University College opportunities it currently offers. Allowing students to enroll in multiple University College courses or complete independent studies through it can only expand the breadth of student education and allow for the development of practical skills useful in the post-graduation job hunt. And promoting those limited offerings presently available to full-time undergraduates can only help revitalize University College by bringing in new students who cannot enjoy these benefits because of inadequate information available to them.