Faculty Votes To Cut Core Requirements

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) voted unanimously yesterday to cut the number of courses undergraduates are required to take in the Core Curriculum from eight to seven, as proposed by outgoing Dean of Undergraduate Education Susan G. Pedersen ’81-’82.

Starting next year, concentrations will exempt students from four of the 11 Core areas closest to their field of study. The exemption applies to all current undergraduates, but those who have already taken a course in their newly-exempted area will not get any additional Core credit.

The plan is designed to give undergraduates more freedom to take electives, including courses in the newly-expanded freshman seminar program, and will apply to currently-enrolled students as well as incoming first-years.

Despite the unanimous vote, many Faculty expressed hope that the cut was just a first step toward a more comprehensive reform of the Core, which is scheduled for a review next year.

“This is at best a band-aid on the program,” said Baird Professor of Science Gary J. Feldman. “I believe the time has come to have a bottom-up review of the Core.”

After the vote, University President Lawrence H. Summers assured professors that taking “a full and wide-ranging look” at the Core would be “an important priority” for the next dean of the Faculty and dean of undergraduate education.

Current Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles plans to step down July 1, and Pedersen will resign at the end of the academic year before going on academic leave.

At yesterday’s Faculty meeting, Professor of Chinese History Peter K. Bol proposed an amendment requiring students to use the course slot formerly held by the eighth Core for general education purposes rather than further concentration work, but the amendment was defeated by a wide margin.

The second half of the meeting focused on Pedersen’s proposal to eliminate the granting of cum laude honors to graduating seniors who earn a cumulative “B” average over all their coursework but are not given honors in their concentrations.

A number of professors defended cum laude honors based on overall coursework, citing students whose grade-point averages were in the “A” range but chose not to write a thesis.

Pearson Professor of Modern Mathematics and Mathematical Logic Warren Goldfarb ’69 said the “disjunctive conception” of cum laude honors is needed but added that the grade cut-off for granting honors outside of concentration work should be raised.

Cum laude honors can be earned either through honors work in concentration or by a strong overall record.

After the discussion, Summers said it seemed to be a “point of agreement” among Faculty that having 90 percent of undergraduates receive honors was “unacceptable.”

While Harvard is comparable to its peer institutions in terms of grade inflation, Summers said, it “stands out considerably” on the issue of honors from similar universities, which typically award them to about half a graduating class.

—Staff writer Dan Rosenheck can be reached at rosenhec@fas.harvard.edu.