No Students Allowed

To nobody's surprise, the Faculty Council this week announced a "Students Need Not Apply" policy in response to the Educational Resources Group's (ERG) recommendation to allow students to sit on the proposed subcommittees developing courses for Harvard's core curriculum.

The council has also apparently rejected, without benefit of a vote; an ERG proposal that would have allowed students to bypass core requirements by taking two departmental offerings in place of one core course.

Members of the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) attributed the proposal's negative reception to a misunderstanding of ERG's motives.

ERG and CUE members say they are looking for a happy medium between the current General Education program and the proposed core curriculum. Backers of the ERG proposal say a by-pass option would reduce enrollment in core classes and provide a greater choice of courses.

The council members, however apparently believe the by-pass would in the words of a Faculty member of CUE, "dilute the concept of the core." The council also split hairs over "student membership" and "student input" into the core subcommittees. Presumably, the latter is fine; but the idea of having official student committee members appears to be dead, at least for the time being.

Even without student representation on the subcommittee, the council appears to be in for a few problems. Faculty members have expressed concern over the development of the proposed core courses along what many say are the abstract guidelines presented in the core curriculum.