Master Advocates Area Tutorial in Non-Honors

Non-Honors tutorial in the Houses "could often cut across Departmental lines with great advantage," Delmar Leighton, Master of Dudley House, said last night. "In this educational area, broad interest groups in the Houses are a more helpful device than the various Departments," he maintained.

Leighton said that "as Master, I am trying to identify a number of interest groups in Dudley, hoping that the tutorial staff will be able to provide a significant non-Honors program for them." Such groups might include the physical sciences, pre-medical sciences, literature, history, and government-economics.

No One Non-Honors Formula

"The non-Honors problem is not to be dealt with by one formula," Leighton continued, "and the program of any House must shift to meet current student needs." No Master should expect "a 100 per cent turnout for any non-Honors program, no matter how good," he said.

"I am trying," Leighton disclosed, "to adjust the Dudley staff to meet the specific needs of Dudley students." This year, for instance, the House has 39 students in the "physical sciences," but no tutors in that field.

Not all non-Honors students want a tutorial program, Leighton said, "and I have a strong suspicion that many are happy under present condition." He stated, however, that a voluntary, flexible program would provide important benefits.

Last Spring the Committee on Educational Policy gave "a mandate to the Masters" to develop non-Honors tutorial in the Houses, Leighton continued. "The Masters have been led to believe that, if they could decide what kind of teaching help they want, the College will provide the teachers."

"Significant" Program Important

Leighton emphasized the importance of getting a "significant" non-Honors program in operation. "It is a dangerous jump to take," he maintained, "to assume that all students who haven't qualified for Honors by the end of the Sophomore year, or don't choose to meet the specialized requirements for Honors, have lost their right to an important form of individual attention from the Faculty."