It is imperative that the enrollment growth planned for the next decade admit a number of graduate students in excess of undergraduates. It is well known that the percentage of undergraduate students completing a degree in four years is dismally small. My assessment of this issue begins with the recognition that students are rational human beings who minimize cost of achieving whatever objective and, if allowed, maximize information by extending its collection time. Students are athletes. They do whatever it takes to achieve the objective.
Faculty are coaches.
If the jumping bar is placed at level 12, it is unrealistic to expect that the average student jump over it at level 15 or higher. After three or four years, the issue should be revisited to evaluate the impact of a 13-unit minimum progress. It should be raised, if necessary, in order to obtain a general compliance with the goal of a 4-year stay at UC Davis. The College of Letter and Sciences has a limit of 225 units, after which retention in the college is subject to approval by the Dean. As long as the Academic Senate will be tolerant of such a grave academic misbehavior, students will always find it rational and convenient to stay in the system.