Faculty Will Retain CLGS For 1963-64

The Faculty has agreed to continue the liberalized requirements for the degree of Cum Laude in General Studies that were voted last fall. There is little question, however, that CLGS will be subjected to a searching re-examination this spring and next year.

In October, 1962, the Faculty voted for the first time to allow a student to drop his thesis at any time and still receive the CLGS, provided he had the needed 11 1/2 honor grades. That decision reversed a long-standing policy of requiring CLGS candidates to enter the program before Nov. 1 of their senior year.

Few Theses Dropped

Many Faculty members predicted then that the liberalization might encourage a large number of students to drop their theses, but Dean Monro reported to the Faculty Tuesday that "the feared avalanche of abandoned theses just was not realized."

Of 149 students who were graduated cum laude in general studies last June, 50 entered the program after Nov. 1, 1962. Thirty of these had given up on theses. The other 20 had been refused departmental honors, but still had enough A's and B's to get CLGS.

Monro pointed out that the number of students graduating with departmental honors went up last year, from 522 to 556, despite the new option of dropping the thesis.

Walt-and-See Attitude

Although neither the Administrative Board nor the Committee on Educational Policy sees an alarming trend toward thesis-dropping in last year's figures, Monro indicated that the Faculty has adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

He predicted that there will be a great deal of discussion within many departments--particularly History, Government, and Economics--which are still somewhat skeptical of the present CLGS plan, and said that all departments will watch closely to see how many students drop their theses during the rest of this year.

A departmental request for action to change the requirements for CLGS could come either this spring or at the October Faculty meeting. Monro stressed that changes made next October could become effective for that academic year.

Several possible revisions have been proposed, Monro said. To be eligible for CLGS a student might be required to have no D's or E's on his record after his first year in College. He might also be required to have three full honor grades in his senior year.

Monro indicated that several Faculty members are in favor of raising the grade average needed for CLGS. He pointed out that the standards for CLGS were last raised by the Faculty in 1946.

"Second-Class Honor"

There is still considerable debate in the Faculty about the new policy of allowing students to drop their theses anytime in their senior year and still get CLGS. "Many people feel," Monro said, "that this cheapens the CLGS degree and makes it a second-class honor."

He suggested that the Faculty might vote to set a deadline of Dec. 1 for registering for CLGS. Such a proposal would probably meet opposition from the science departments which strongly supported the liberalization of CLGS last year