More Placement Tests To Be Moved Online

More placement tests will be moved online for the incoming class of 2012 to take over the summer, announced Assistant Dean of the College Logan S. McCarty ’96 at yesterday’s meeting of the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE).

In addition to chemistry and biology tests—which were offered online last year—the College is aiming to include exams for Expository Writing, mathematics, and French by next summer at the latest, McCarty said.

McCarty said the College expects nearly all of the placement exams will be online for fall 2009.

The change comes in light of the revised calendar, which will shorten the Calendar of Opening Days to about five days under the new calendar, which is to be implemented in the fall of 2009, according to McCarty.

Despite the move online, the Expository Writing test will still be graded by preceptors.

Though there were no objections to the plan, some committee members said they were worried that students would take advantage of an un-proctored exam.

But McCarty said he did not share this concern because the purpose of the tests is to place students in the appropriate level of a course.

“All of these tests are being used for placement recommendations, and the experience for other schools is that if students realize this is for their own placement, they don’t cheat on it,” he said.

The committee also devoted a significant portion of the meeting to discussing how to reform the system for approving simultaneous enrollment since the majority of courses meet between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Three proposals for reform were discussed, but the committee as a whole did not come out in favor of any of them.

Under the current regulations, students who are simultaneously enrolled must meet with professors to make up lectures that they do not attend in “hour-for-hour” instruction once the arrangement has been approved by the Admistrative Board.

Assistant Dean of the College John “Jay” L. Ellison—who is also secretary of the Ad Board—proposed that students could receive this hour-for-hour instruction from teaching fellows as well as from professors.

Undergraduate Council President Matthew L. Sundquist ’09 presented a proposal that would also allow for undergraduates to use online lecture videos in lieu of direct instruction, provided that they attend one-third of “the instructional periods of the course.”

The Office of Academic Programs submitted the third proposal which would only allow simultaneous enrollment for seniors who need to take two overlapping courses.

The committee will continue the discussion next fall.

The committee also discussed a proposal by the UC, the Harvard College Democrats, and the Harvard Republican Club that would allow students’ participation in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps to appear on transcripts.

Although interim Dean of the College David R. Pilbeam said that the proposal would probably not be approved, he asked that the proposal be revised.

“I don’t think this is going to fly,” interim Dean of the College David R. Pilbeam said. But he then added, “I am strongly in favor of it.”

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