Commission Will Conduct English 166 Investigation

The Commission of Inquiry decided yesterday to conduct a full investigation of the fairness of last month's final exam in English 166, "The Novel Since 1945."

The commission will determine whether the course's instructor, Robert J. Kiely, professor of English and master of Adams House, gave students at an Adams House review session an unfair advantage on the exam.

Kiely revealed at the review session the specific format of the exam and two questions that appeared on the exam.

Three Mather House residents in English 166 filed a complaint with the commission earlier this month, charging that Kiely gave the students at the review session an edge on the exam.

George F. Carrier '48, Coolidge Professor of Applied Mathematics and chairman of the commission, said yesterday he would be "disappointed if the commission does not reach a decision on the complaint within a month."

Carrier said the commission decided to investigate the complaint because "there is no other entity in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in whose jurisdiction it seemed to belong."

Kiely was unavailable for comment yesterday. However, he said last week that he did not give an unfair advantage to the students at the review session.

The three graders in English 166 released statistics Wednesday that they said proved Adams residents did no better on the exam than the rest of the students in the course.

The graders, George D. Gopen, Patrick J. Creevy and Richard N. Sawaya, said that on the section of the exam where the two questions Kiely revealed appeared, Adams students scored 4.7 per cent higher than they did on the rest of the exam, while other students did 8.9 per cent better on that section.

Discussion With Kiely

Carrier said the commission will examine the grade statistics in its investigation. The statistics "give some indication of the extent the information seems to have mattered," he said.

The commission has already discussed the review session with Kiely, Carrier said, and it will also talk to the students who filed the complaint.

The commission has no direct power, but can only make recommendations to Dean Rosovsky. Since the commission did not investigate any complaints last fall, Rosovsky has never had to act on a commission recommendation. However, previous deans have always carried out the commission's recommendations.