Teaching At The College Should Be Collaborative

To the editors:



I was present at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences meeting at which the idea of compulsory CUE evaluations was discussed (“CUE Proposal Irks Some Faculty,” news, May 3). I tried to get recognized to support the proposal, but was not called on. I was disappointed that there was opposition to this proposal from my faculty colleagues. I am no fan of anonymous surveys, and in the meeting, I found myself agreeing with many of the criticisms that my colleagues (even Harvey C. Mansfield ’53) leveled at the CUE evaluation process. But what bothered me was the common theme of individual faculty prerogative in the arguments.

It is certainly one of the glories of Harvard that individual faculty members have the talent and enthusiasm to teach unique courses, not canned or straight from a textbook. But it does not follow that our teaching should be a solitary pursuit, in the same “each-tub-on-its-own-bottom” style that complicates so much of Harvard’s administration. Rather, professors should think of teaching as a cooperative activity, involving students, graduate assistants, faculty colleagues and administrators. We need more collective responsibility and institutional memory in our teaching. We do not need more individual faculty prerogatives. Even though the CUE process needs improvement, I believe that the proposal of compulsory CUE evaluations is a step in the right direction, and that it will hasten the day when we are all pulling together in the difficult business of teaching and learning.



HOWARD GEORGI ’68

Cambridge, Mass.

May 9, 2006



The writer is Mallinckrodt professor of physics and master of Leverett House.