Faculty Notebook: Professors Debate Honors Criteria

After University President Drew G. Faust made a series of announcements at yesterday’s Faculty meeting—including notifying those present of today’s closure of Widener Library due to snow—she asked for questions, and silence followed.

“When is it going to stop snowing?” Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith asked, referring to the ongoing snowfall that was slated to cancel some classes and hinder commuters across the University.

“I don’t know. Good question,” Faust responded, thanking the “intrepid” faculty members who made it out to the meeting in University Hall.

CUM WHAT?

Reviewing an age-old practice of conferring honor degrees to exemplary students, the Faculty questioned the long-term value of these academic achievements.

“I have been teaching at Harvard for 37 years now, and the two students I’ve taught who have had the biggest impact on the world didn’t even earn their degrees, much less with honors,” Computer Science Professor Harry R. Lewis ’68 wrote in an e-mail to the Crimson after the meeting.

While Dean of Undergraduate Education Jay M. Harris presented a proposal for changing the criteria for receiving the award, Lewis and other professors entered a larger discussion on the significance of grades outside the Harvard gates.

Some faculty members said the need to retain a high GPA for an Honors degree may serve to disincentivize students who want to take courses outside of their comfort zones.

Lewis wrote that except for certain academic careers, “in my experience high grades at Harvard don’t predict future success very well.”

“Of course when discussing Harvard students you are talking about a very talented pool to begin with,” Lewis wrote, “but that is why I wish the emphasis on grades and honors could be ratcheted down.”

Even Harris questioned the utility of the Latin honors, despite the lengthy process of reforming the program.

“Most people seem to think that magna is higher than summa in the outside world,” Harris said.

THROWING OUT THE PAPER

At a meeting steeped in tradition, Harris demonstrated that the Faculty was prepared for the new decade.

In his presentation, he showed his savvy tech skills by reading notes from an iPad as he addressed the Faculty.

In an e-mail to The Crimson after the meeting, Harris praised his modern gadget.

“[I] don’t have anything to say other than that I love it,” Harris wrote.

—Staff writer Gautam S. Kumar can be reached at gkumar@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Sirui Li can be reached at sli@college.harvard.edu.