Beginning in the 2000-01 school year, UC Davis students' minimum progress requirement will rise from an average of 12 units to 13 units per quarter. This means that a full-time student will be expected to complete a total of at least 39 units per academic year. The one-unit increase was decided last week by the UC Davis Representative Assembly of the Academic Senate, which approved a motion by economics professor Kevin Hoover. The move is intended to reduce the amount of time it takes students to complete their degree requirements. Office of the President statistics place this campus as second to last in the UC system in the average student time to degree. By improving the time to degree, the senate hopes to eventually boost state funding to the campus, increase the number of students going through the system and decrease the cost per student for education. UC Davis' inefficient graduation rate became an issue during the 1997 semester-conversion debate when it was pointed out that the Office of the President rewards more efficient campuses. In 1997, the campus received no funding for 1,400 students.