’12 Faces Choice on Gen Ed

As prefrosh stream into Harvard Yard this weekend, many of them will still be deciding between colleges. But these rising freshmen may not know that if they come to Harvard, they will also be deciding between curricula.

Entering the College in the midst of the first curricular reform in 30 years, the Class of 2012 will have the option of graduating under either the current Core Curriculum or the new General Education program, which will begin this fall and be fully implemented by 2009.

After almost a year of General Education Standing Committee meetings since the new curriculum was approved last May, 22 courses have been approved for Gen Ed credit—sixteen of which will be offered next year.

Meanwhile, the number of courses that count for Core credit has already stagnated. According to Susan W. Lewis, director of the Core Program, around 100-120 courses will count for Core credit next year—the same number offered this year.

The Core Office has relaxed requirements for faculty applying to have their departmental courses count for Core credit—even a small course taught by a visiting professor can now count, Lewis said.

But there were the same number of course petitions for Core credit this year as last year, she said.

For now, Gen Ed course options remain limited. As the academic year draws to a close, approximately 40 total Gen Ed class proposals have been submitted. And with only three Gen Ed meetings left, it is unlikely that many more courses will be approved for the fall.

Stagnating Core options and the slow pace of Gen Ed approvals may leave incoming freshmen in a bind. When Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith was asked if there will be enough options this fall for members of the Class of 2012 to graduate under Gen Ed, he said, “I’m not sure I can really answer that question.”

“If you chose to do most of your requirements for Gen Ed after freshman year, then absolutely,” added Smith, who is also chair of the Core Standing Committee. “You won’t have zero choices.... But will the menu of choices be as rich this year [2008-9] as it will be the next year? No.”

CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO CURRICULA

Members of the Class of 2012 may need to decide between these two curricula early in their academic careers. Only 13 courses so far have been approved to “double-count,” or fulfill both Core and Gen Ed requirements. Nine double-counting courses will be offered next academic year.

Rites of passage for many freshmen—including Social Analysis 10: “Principles of Economics” and Moral Reasoning 22: “Justice”—have yet to be approved for Gen Ed credit.

But Gen Ed Committee Chair Jay M. Harris, who says he is planning to meet with the Board of Freshman Advisers at the end of the summer, said that incoming freshmen should not worry too much about course requirements for now.

“We’re very committed to making sure that next year’s freshmen have good advice,” said Harris, a professor of Jewish Studies.

“They will also have a certain autonomy and certain choices they can make,” Harris said. “No one wants to relieve them of that, but we want to make sure they are well-advised.”

When asked how he would advise an incoming freshman deciding between Gen Ed and the Core, he said, “I think the wisest thing in many cases will be to take things that count for either.”

Although Harris said that he’s hoping for newly developed Gen Ed courses to be approved for Core credit, there is no guarantee.

“The categories are different, so some of the Gen Ed classes wouldn’t necessarily fit,” Lewis said. “I mean, some of them do, and some of them don’t.”

Although Faculty legislation requires that the Core Standing Committee be dissolved at the end of this year, administrators are finding a way around the legislation.

Harris will invite Core committee members to join the Gen Ed team as part of distinct subcommittees charged with the same task as before—approving courses for Core credit.

OUT OF THE LOOP

The Class of 2012 has received little information—if any—about the transition.

When incoming freshman Roshane B. Campbell of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. was asked about the curriculum change, he said, “I actually don’t know what’s going on.”

The 50-page Admissions Office brochure mailed to prospective students this year mentions Gen Ed once. On page 15, it reads, “The faculty is developing a new and distinctive program of General Education.”

Although Julian B. Gerwitz of Hamden, Conn. said he’s heard about Gen Ed, he said he hasn’t considered the impact it will have on his academic experience.

“I didn’t even realize fully that the changes had already been implemented or are going to be implemented as early as next year,” he said in a phone interview.

“I personally don’t think I’ve received anything that in detail outlines the new changes, what the new plan will require, and what options it will give us,” he added.

—Staff writers Maxwell L. Child and Christian B. Flow contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Bonnie J. Kavoussi can be reached at kavoussi@fas.harvard.edu.