Students Discuss Core Revisions

With the Faculty likely to vote on final changes to the Core next month, undergraduates were given the opportunity last night to discuss proposed revisions with Core Review Committee Chair and Pforzheimer University Professor Sidney Verba.

In a sparsely attended meeting in Science Center C, eight vocal students said they felt frustrated that the changes proposed last month by the Core Review Committee did not address student complaints.

"I basically feel like they paid us lip service," said George T. Chang '97.

Verba said he was surprised by the student opposition.

"I was more defensive tonight than I wanted to be, more defensive than I thought I'd be," Verba said.

Complaints centered on Core philosophy and the system's inflexibility.

Verba acknowledged that the Core Review Committee continues to accept the underlying principles of the Core system.

"We believe in a broad education outside the concentration, and that these needs are best met by specifically-designed courses," he said.

Verba said that the revisions address two major complaints--the lack of a required quantitative reasoning course and the insufficient number of courses.

Students said they felt those changes were not substantive enough.

"I honestly think that the committee has taken its job seriously, but given the current constraints on the system, the changes aren't sufficient to address the concerns held by the majority of undergraduates," said Michael H. Walfish '98.

The students at last night's discussion said they favored allowing departmental courses to fulfill distribution requirements while leaving the current Core system intact.

Departmental bypasses, they said, would both relieve overloaded courses and offer undergraduates more flexibility.

However, Verba said student satisfaction is not the only consideration.

"I don't think that you necessarily design an educational program to make people happy," he said.

Verba added that most introductory courses do not fulfill the purpose of the Core, which is to introduce students to the "major approaches to knowledge in areas that the faculty considers indispensable to undergraduate education," according to Harvard's Courses of Instruction.

"A Core needs to pay self-conscious attention to how a discipline works," Verba added. "The Core program doesn't bar survey courses, but most survey courses tend not to give you analytical tools for analyzing music, for example."

Verba also said that the committee was concerned that departmental bypasses would weaken the Core system.

He said he believed that departmental bypasses weakened the General Education system, the distribution system that preceded the Core.

Although the review committee decided against recommending departmental bypasses, Verba conceded that there are not presently enough courses offered in the Core.

Verba said the committee is looking into "inducements" for professors to bring their courses into the Core program, such as more teaching credit for Cores.

"The members of this committee spend a lot of time taking professors out to lunch, talking them into teaching Cores," he said.

Verba said that the curricular requirements for Core courses are not that onerous and should not deter professors from bringing their courses into the Core.

However, he said that the committee "should be looking into making sure that courses aren't being turned away by a prissy committee.

The students at last night's discussion said they favored allowing departmental courses to fulfill distribution requirements while leaving the current Core system intact.

Departmental bypasses, they said, would both relieve overloaded courses and offer undergraduates more flexibility.

However, Verba said student satisfaction is not the only consideration.

"I don't think that you necessarily design an educational program to make people happy," he said.

Verba added that most introductory courses do not fulfill the purpose of the Core, which is to introduce students to the "major approaches to knowledge in areas that the faculty considers indispensable to undergraduate education," according to Harvard's Courses of Instruction.

"A Core needs to pay self-conscious attention to how a discipline works," Verba added. "The Core program doesn't bar survey courses, but most survey courses tend not to give you analytical tools for analyzing music, for example."

Verba also said that the committee was concerned that departmental bypasses would weaken the Core system.

He said he believed that departmental bypasses weakened the General Education system, the distribution system that preceded the Core.

Although the review committee decided against recommending departmental bypasses, Verba conceded that there are not presently enough courses offered in the Core.

Verba said the committee is looking into "inducements" for professors to bring their courses into the Core program, such as more teaching credit for Cores.

"The members of this committee spend a lot of time taking professors out to lunch, talking them into teaching Cores," he said.

Verba said that the curricular requirements for Core courses are not that onerous and should not deter professors from bringing their courses into the Core.

However, he said that the committee "should be looking into making sure that courses aren't being turned away by a prissy committee.