Plans Considered For Non-Honors Tutorial

Several new proposals for non-Honors tutorial in the five major fields are being considered by the Administration, the CRIMSON learned yesterday. These plans spring from a report released last spring by the Committee on Educational Policy and some combination of them will probably be instituted next Fall.

Two of the plans envision grouping concentrators in the five major fields--History, Government, Economics, Social Relations, and English--into small discussion groups. Both assume that the College has a responsibility to provide individualized instruction for all its students, not merely for its Honors candidates.

By combining individual departments into a broad discussion group, non-Honors students in these fields, who now number about one-third of all students in a House, would actively participate in some form of the tutorial program. At present, these first two plans exclude the sciences and smaller fields such as Classics, which already have close student-faculty contact.

The first plan provides for compulsory, interdepartmental discussion groups for Seniors only led by two tutors from different fields. The groups would meet weekly to consider a broad topic appropriate to the group. These men, who by good performance and possibly by an essay, might merit a degree with Honors. Such groups would be organized primarily on the departmental level.

House Honors Program

The second plan, essentially a modification of the first, envisions a voluntary "House Honors" program for those non-Honors Seniors who nevertheless wish to continue some form of tutorial. The plan assumes that a large portion of non-Honors students, often with sound reasons, simply do not want to take up the burden of extended research in some narrow, particular field, but still do not desire the anonymity of large courses. These groups would be organized on a House basis, with certification of "House Honors" placed on the degree.

A third proposal would set up a half-course running throughout the year, with credit, subject to regular tuition rates, course standards, and run by the various departments. The course, open to both Juniors and Seniors, would meet in discussion groups, and the groups will fall within an individual department. By exceptional work in this course during the Junior year, a student could attain Honors status his Senior year.

In all possibility, the final solution to non-Honors tutorial will represent a combination of the three proposed plans. A final decision will not be announced until later in the term.