Social Relations Dept. Drops Honors Generals

The Social Relations Department has adopted major revisions in its tutorial program, including the abolishment of the written general examinations which are presently required for Honors, Robert W. White, chairman of the department, announced yesterday.

The new rules, which will take effect immediately beginning with the Class of 1961, will affect concentrators in all three years of study. All sophomores will still meet in small House tutorial groups, but they will now be required to submit a "substantial" theme to their tutor for grading at the end of the second semester.

In the Junior year, a student will no longer participate in a small non-credit tutorial group. Instead, if he has written a satisfactory sophomore paper and has received a recommendation from his previous tutor, the candidates for Honors will take statistics 122, a course about statistics in the Social Sciences, followed by Social Relations 71, a study of methodology. At the same time, they will enroll in Social Relations 89, a two one-semester tutorial seminar for credit. Each of these tutorial groups will require a lengthy, graded paper.

Orals on Thesis Topic

If earlier requirements are successfully met, the Honors candidate will be asked to submit an acceptable thesis, take a graduate level seminar, and pass an oral examination on his thesis topic and its relation to the student's field of study during his senior year.

No minimum grades will be necessary for Honors, and the department will allow non-Honors juniors to petition for tutorial on a trial basis. White said that the new policies have been adopted both in accordance with the Committee an Educational Policy's recent proposals and in order to "weigh the student's record in a judicious manner rather than an automatic one."

House Tutorial Encouraged

Non-Honors concentrators will not participate in Departmental tutorial after the sophomore year, except for a non-credit study group which will be required in the final semester as preparatory for general examinations. The Department hopes to encourage House tutorial whenever possible, however, White stated.