Wedhesdcay, February 27, 1974
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Seven
-PAID ADVERTISEMENT-
THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
Continued from page 6
ON
,,
of other courses that concentrate 20 credit-hours should get a coup- V. 8. Should a student wish to the rank of Collegiate Professor tot
on subjects other than literature selor's permission. A student who display letter grades for courses direct the planning and organiza-;
(e.g., contemporary journalism anticipates taking longer than the listed pass/fail some time after all tion of a new freshman program,
and politics, the modern film, Ger- normal time to earn a degree is courses have been completed that' Introduction to the University, sim-
man for natural scientists, French advised to file a statement of his will be taken on a pass/fail basis, ilar to the outline below. There-
for social scientists, etc.). Lan, reasons with the Administrative the student may upon payment of after the head of the course shall
guage courses should make further Board which may on its own initia- a fee set by the Registrar direct similarly be named, usually for a
And more imaginative use of com- tive or on the recommendation of that an appendix to the transcript period of two or three years.
outerized instruction, . telephone the Counseling Office or a member be prepared listing all courses tak-a
lines, and an efficient language of the faculty review the progress 1 en pass/fail along with the letter VI. 2. The Course should be con-
leboratory; all courses in the Col- of any student and fix a limit by grade originally submitted by the ceived of as an elective maxi-
lege should be encouraged to in- which the degree must be earned. instructor. course (8 credits) offered in the
clude foreign language materials T e ts fall term of the freshman year
on their reading lists and many V. 2. Anyuderrduate in The view that a transcript is, a tr ofhersh nyar
courses outside the language de- stmayV ny undergraduae in good like a curriculum vita, something consisting of three units that may,
cartments should be given from standing is entitled to eight terms over which the person described be taken separately or jointly and'
rtiments shouldn be iven fromg of study even if the requirements should have considerable control designed to introduce students to
time to time in a foreign language. for the bachelors degree have was a concept that appealed very the intellectual challenges and re-
been completed i less than eight: strongly to a minority of the Com- sources of the University. For stu-
On the whole teaching in this Col- terms. mission's members and is pre- dents enrolled in this course, their
lege seems to be most effective sented here as a proposal for fac- discussion or seminar instructors
when closely related to serious re- V. 3. Leaves of absence for ser- ulty consideration. should also be their freshman ad-
search, There are certain common ious purposes are regularly gran Proposal E (substitute for Rec- visors.
problems in teaching foreign lan- ted by the Administrative Board; omnmendation V.8) ad
guages, and there is no question normally leaves should not extend a. Lectures, common readings,
but that it is often awkward for a for more than one calendar year. and two hours a week of discussion
department of literary studies, to A student may, upon payment of sections (4 credits) designed to in-
find itself charged with language a fee set by the Registrar, request troduce thet student to the variety
teaching. A foreign language insti- To drop a course is a waste of a transcript a) listing no courses, of disciplines and approaches rep-
tute might help, therefore, to draw time and money, penalty enough or b) listing courses but no grades, resented in the University through
together those interested in re- not to require anyone's permis- or c) translating all grades into readings and guest lectures on cer-
search on language learning. It sion. In fact, permission to drop is "P" or. "F", or 4) listing all tain common themes. Some discus.
might, in addition, make more of at present usually easy to obtain, courses as originally chosen, pass/ sion sections might, with the aid
resources like those of the English but the power to require students fail or graded. A box on the tran- and approval of the English Com-
Language Institute, an interna- to take (or to fail) courses they script would clearly indicate which position Board, be designed to'
tipncaly-known group studying the wish to be quit of is pedagogically option had been chosen. meet the requirements for train-
problems of teaching a second lan- unattractive and. liable to grave ing in English composition.
gunge, which annually draws to inequity. There seem to be but
Ann Arbor hundreds of native two justifications for it: that stu- b. Freshman.seminars (2 credit-
speakers ofe other languages who dents might otherwise drop courses hours) taught by members of the
rather than accept low grades and faculty on topics of their choice de-
c dstdents, add i easurabean unimpressive record and that VI. KINDS OF signed either to explore one of the
t - ,4-.o.miht if it wore o' , tr I o' main themes of the larger course
overlap in content and approach
with courses generally taught in
high schools, in other departments
of the College ,or in other colleges
of the University. Where such over-
lapping exists, the introductory,
course should be redesigned, com-
bined with other courses, or elimi-
nated.
VT. 4. Faculty members with an
interest in new developments in
interdisciplinary research a n d
study (of the sort encouraged, for
example, by a number of national
centers and institutes in the be-
havorial sciences, the humanities,
the biological sciences, and com-,
puter modeling) should inform the
Associate Dean for Curriculum of
their interests (and he should seek
out such faculty) so that his office
may bring together those interested
in creating new interdiscipli-
nary courses.
VI. 5. The Dean's Office should
press negotiations to make sure
that introductory courses in the
arts offered by other schools of the
University are open to undergradu-
ates in this College. Additional ar-
rangements should also be made
to increase the accessibility to stu-
dents in this College of non-credit
courses in the creative arts taught
in neighboring institutions.
Collegiate Institutes
would be related to academic an- the Spring-Summer term, with its in the context of general planning
alysis as well as a coherent pro- limited curriculum and budget, has than as the fulfillment of imme-
gram within which disparate sub- not yet developed any very strong diate bureaucratic regulation. A
ject matter and forms of instruc- identity or appeal while the temp- student's opportunities to obtain,
tions are integrally related. tation to offer yet again the most formally and informally, specific
basic of regular courses invites an information, personal counseling,
Because such institutes should : atmosphere of tired repetition. general academic advice, and
remain fresh in spirit and clearly With these considerations in mind, suggestions about subsequent ca-
focused on particular problems and the Commission recommends that: reers need to be multiple and var-
distinct from such broader inter- :
disciplinary programs as the Me-
dieval Collegium or American Stu-
dies, we propose that normally no
one institute be allowed to con-
tinue for long.
VI. 6. The Associate Dean for
Curriculum and the Curriculum
should encourage and supervise
the establishment of a number of
Collegiate Institutes for the inter-
disciplinary exploration of im-
portant problems. Each Institute
a) should include not less than
three faculty members committed
to giving one, one-term interdisci-
plinary course per year for the In-
stitute; b) should provide a two,;
three, or four-term curriculum
(normally including courses or spe-
cial sections of courses already in
the catalog) that would absorb ap-
proximately one-half of a student's
course work during that period; c)
have physical headquarters wherer
student and faculty can meet in-,
formally. Although Institutes would
be expected to experiment with in-
novative forms of teaching and
learning, they should maintain a
teacher-student ratio comparable
to that for the College as a whole,
and students enrolled in an Insti-
tute should have as their advisors
members of its faculty. The au-F
thorization for any single Institute
shall not extend longer than four
years.
Research and
Independent Study
Many colleges can offer advan-
tages we cannot match, but few
have a better opportunity to pro-
vide undergraduates some taste of
the excitement of research; in-
deed, projects designed to intro-
duce undergraduates to research'
might well invite a wiser use of
teaching fellows than freshman
sections. Nor can many institutions
excel this one in facilities for in-
dividual cultural, intellectual and
VI. 10. Insofar as p o s s i b l e
courses taught in the term ILIA or The Commission recommends
in off-campus summer programs that:
sponsored by the University should
be of the intensive variety (e.g., VII. 1. The Academic Informa-
constitute a full course-load) and tion Center (LSA Checkpoint),
should experiment with varied which makes basic academic in-
methods of teaching rather than formation accessible by telephone
merely repeating courses normal- to all members of the community
ly offered in the other terms of the and to which students may go for
academic year. more detailed information, is a
laudable step which should be fol-
lowed by renewed experimentation
Course Numbering with the possibility of providing
fuller computer-stored information
The Commission believes that, about particular programs and
freshmen and sophomores should courses.
be encouraged to work at the high-
est level of which they are cap- VI. 2. The Counseling Office,
able and that seniors should not while maintaining some central
be discouraged from becoming ac- staff in the now combined offices
quainted with a new discipline of underclass and upperclass coun-
through taking a course at the in- seling, should make every effort
troductory level. ,Ilac ,,,,,si d,, or,,,,, .
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life to learning a foreign lan-] LuUens m 11iii: iLwe111..1. t' One cannot easily create a co-
gutge. A language institute (18) drop a course,'rather thoughtlessly COURSES or to illustrate the approach ofta
igtasexeietwtvai sign up for a closed course toI particular discipline. Ideally, thehsiecm ntyotfaCleg
might also experiment with vani- which they were not committed . members of a seminar would be this size, and there would be great
mie ways of including something 'and thereby exclude more deter- Av ostarrtassal t en- drawn primarily from a single losses in trying to divide it up. In-
imcdern linguistic analysis in ele- a.deyt e versity reform assail the en- reidec hall ad the smnrtitshwvofeannt-
4enary I a n g u a g e instruction. mined students waiting to get in. trenched system of lecture courses encean e seminar stitutes, however, offer an insti-
Therefore: A record on the transcript show- and departmental structure as the might meet there. tutional device in which a small
ing the date on which any course natural enemies of good teaching.' c. Freshman orientation (2 credit- group of faculty and students could
IV. 13. The Dean and the Execu- is dropped would go far to counter The Commission is more optimis- hours) a course designed to give together pursue a problem of com-
tive Committee are urged to ex- first objection and if the sec- tic. Lectures are more than a freshmen (through lectures and mon interest. (24) When possible,
plore the possibility of placing all :nd proves real, courses with wait- means of conveying, information special assignments) experience in students should be engaged in the
or slme elementary language in-' ing lists could be excluded from outmoded by the invention of mov- the purposeful exploitation of the planning and operation of an insti-
str-ction under the supervision of the recommendation that able type; they can provide enter- facilities and resources available tute, and various experiments in
a new Language Institute (Includ- taining, exciting, and very human at the University (libraries, mu- evaluation (from portfolio to gen-
ing the present English Language V. 4. A student may drop any demonstrations of a trained mind seums, institutes, computation cen. eral examinations) could be tried.
Institute) and u s i n g assigned. c ourse through the end of the third at work and are often an efficient ter, etc.) and to provide realistic Institutes would be organized for'
teaching staff '(Including teaching week of classes without any nota- means for giving students broad career counseling (through lectures the systematic and interdiscipli.
felloWs) from the appropriate de. t o being made on the College and up-to-date guidance through by lawyers, artists, physicians, n study of significant problems
partmnents of the University. transcript. After that time and on- complex material. At its best our congressmen, etc.) and special ses- (urbanization, the role of the pro.
til the last day of classes, a stu- middle-level lecture course should' sions conducted by members of feurs 'indifer sieie, the-t
dent may drop a course by a) in- provide a coverage suitable to un- such special University offices as fesctrs in different s ieties, the'
dicating the reasons for doing so dergraduates at a level of sophisti- Career Planning and Placement uses ofprpaanda the conet of
on a form obtained from the Coun- cation appropriate to graduate and the Center for the Continuing tse o men and anials the
seling ce, b) meetng e students. The real danger in the Education of Women. The course f s the
FPCE Ocourse instructor and having the lecture system, w h i c h follows should seek to provide a basis for nature of matter, the child and so-
Sistructor wite a comment on the from its strengths and conven-' informed and self-directed curric- et etc.) For its faculty mem-
same form (with the understand- ience, is the tendency to overdo it. ular planning and might also pro- b'er an istitute cn provide an
STUD A ing that the instructor's permission Then courses become monotonous vide an opportunity for some se- opportunityto teach in a fresh way
E U T"" ""is not required) and c) filing the and students passive. A change in niors to serve as discussion leaders oeri related to taei research
form i the Counseling Office. The the credit-hour system should help and teaching assistants. and to work closely with col-
course will then be listed on the to reduce the amount of lecturing, oth fields For its stu-
student's transcript with a "W" but it is important that other kinds eagues in oterf .F
Pace of Study and the date of withdrawal. of courses provide clearly labelled Introductory Courses dents an institute can ed offer the
The Com-mission's recommenda- variety at every level. Significant- VI. 3. Each department is urged terest, exploring the contribution
tions on the pace of study seek to Gradng ly, Michigan students currently ap- to charge an individual or a com- various disciplines make to deeper
s on tpear to be highly satisfied with the mittee to undertake an immediate understanding--the relevance of a
achieve publicly and for all stu- Uncertain that an agreeable range of subject matter taught but assessment of the department's in- liberal arts education thereby be-
dents a flexibility that has long resolution exists for the contro- disappointed at the lack of intel- troductory courses (remembering ing demonstrated rather than as-'
been available in practice for those versy on evaluation, the majority lectual contact with faculty and that they may be taken by students serted. The institute would thus be
who knew how to apply for it. This of the Commission was content to fellow students. (22) who are not freshmen) to seek an intellectual community in which
will become all the more essential accent the guidance provided by Denartmental structure is in it- ways of improving them and to group projects, conversation, team-
ihed itud selftyrequently atttcyer f hibit determine whether these courses research, or community action
if the traditional pace of study (2the cult's esihornsuggelster self frequently attacked for inhibi-
give wa ~~(20) The changes here suggestedin gerazton ndsthi,
should give way before new kinds would extend very slightly and ng generalization and synthesis,
of tudents. We believe that any simplify the use of pass/fail op- ave be a od new e-
student in good standing who tions (currently a student cannot hartmentwereweakenedohiMS
wishes to taxe some time off for take a second elementary language nated as selfish bastions of re-
work, study, or travel should be course or any course needed for searchu uninterested in students. GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
assured. The College should have basis--where pass equals C or bet- some institutions alone existed,
no wish to detain students who ter--but a grade of D will satisfy then the creation of a college MEMBERS
would rather by elsewhere. (18) these requirements). The Commis- z
¢inwspatclrl oredta1 organized according to academic
sion was particularly worried that disciplines would be hailed as a' JOHN ATKINSON, Professor of Psychology
Similarly, students good stand- students who need a grade should breakthrough in behalf of intellec- *JEAN CAMPBELL, Director, Center for Continuinga
ing should be assured of having not be forced to accept a pass or ita rges naycs twudEuainfrWmn
eihIem tterdsoa vnsbeunl edsdatgdb tual progress. In any case it would Education for Women;
if gt tercmpletethdegre reqre- 'avequen e chosendisadvant grde be foolish for this College to turn JEAN COBB, President, Alumni Council
rMei'ts in less time; thus an under- in pass/fail terms. (21) If letter away from its greatest strength, WILBUR COHEN, Dean, School of Education
graduate might receive the B. A. grades are to be given, they offer the close association of under- SETH COMSTOCK, Student, Coordinator Student
ini six or seven terms, but use the better discriminatin and are more graduate teaching with graduate Counseling Office
additional time to deepen a pro-. adequately understood by others If traing and research. Rather, LISA DICKENSON, Student, Member of the Joint
grain of distribution or concentra- recorded with pluses and minuses. much more should be made of Student-Faculty Policy Committee
fo'rdaethat strength. and of the possibili-Stdn-auyPoiyCm tee"
tii or to preparefor adute ca- ties of federal variety inherent in OZZIE EDWARDS, Associate Professor of Sociology
study (r Th bilityo earn the;V. S. The instructor in each a departmental organization. SIDNEY FINE, Professor of History
kscourse should submit letter grades RAYMOND GREW, Professor of History, Chairmant
dge mndsoreuiclths u to the Registrar for every student' . At the same time we must re- *WILLIAM HAYES, Professor of Psychology andI
not grounds for expulsion. enrolled except for courses in ex-' spond to the universal impression Asciat. Vi.e-Prsidi pt f A Ardn APi Aff'.'
freshman courses, and Institutes,
VI. 11. The Curriculum Commit- and the promising start in the use
tee should prepare and submit to of undergraduate counselors should
the faculty a new College-wide be expanded.
standard of course numbering in-
tended to identify course levels in VII. 3. Undergraduate course se-
terms of previous knowledge re- lection should require an advisor's
quired for that courserather than signature only for the first term of
in terms of freshmen, sophomores, residence; thereafter undergradu-
or upperclassmen (e.g., 100 courses ates should be formally required to
might be introductory and have no procure an advisor's signature on
prerequisites, 200 courses might' only two occasions-upon submis-
assume some previous work in the! sion of a Distribution Plan (Recom-
field, etc.). Upon acceptance of the mendation IV. 4), and upon pre-
new standard by the faculty, all I senting a Concentration P la n
departments and programs in the (Recommendation IV.S.). The Ad-
College would renumber their ministrative Board's approval is
courses by a specified date. ' also required for permission to
take an unusually large or small
number of courses (Recommenda-
tion V. 1) and supporting state-
ments from teachers and counsel-
ors are recommended in support
t. Tof any petition to a department or
QUALITY OF the Administrative Board.
UNDER.
GRADUATE LIFE
4
scientific discovery: yet many stu-
dents rarely attend concerts, read Together, the recommendations
for pleasure, or find their way into made so far should have consider-
laboratories and museums. Under-' able impact on the quality of un-
graduates with sufficient initiative dergraduate life. The new fresh-.
should be encouraged to devise man courses, Institutes, a n d
systematic and serious programs Boards of Study should add greater
of discovery which could become 'focus and coherence to the un-
the basis for a contract with a de- dergraduate experience and bring
partment rather in the style of the students and faculty into more and-
monitorial method developed by varied contact with each other.
Empire State University. (25) Or- Attaching advising to freshman
ganized in this way, independent courses, Institutes and the fourth
work by undergraduates need not hour of cqurses should have simi-
cost the College more than the av- lar effect. Lessening the separa-
erage course. tion of underclass and upperclass
years, carrying foreign language
VI. 7. It should be a principle of study and English composition into
the College and of each depart- other courses, and inviting stu-
ment that every student should dents to plan coherent programs'
have during the course of under- of distribution and concentration
VII. 4. The Counseling Office
should maintain an up-to-date Edu-
cational Policy handbook for ad-
visors and a separate telephone
number for receiving queries, in-
formation, suggestions, and com-
plaints from the faculty; it should
also systematically collect-student
evaluations of the various forms of
counseling.
VII. S. The Office of Career
Planning and Placement, the Coun-
seling Office, and the Dean's Of-
fice should seek to establish a pro-
gram of alumni seminars, one of
whose functions would be discus-
sion by qualified alumni of the
most effective preparation for cer-
tain careers; and they should seek
to create a program of part-time,
summer, and one-term jobs that
would enable undergraduates to
sample the careers that interest
them.
graduate study through a course,
seminar, or independent work,
some systematic experience ol
scholarly research.
Vi. 8. Departments are urged to
explore ways of encouraging stu-
dents to undertake a course or a
term of well-designed independent
study and to seek ways of making
departmental honors programs
more accessible and more attrac-
tive.
VI. 9. The faculty should en-
courage all seniors to consider un-
dertaking a senior project. as an
appropriate culmination of their
undergraduate studies. For some
this will be a senior thesis in a de-
partment, for some an effort inde-
pendently or in regular courses to
draw together material studied
throughout their college career.
Some seniors may choose to re-
flect on their collegiate experi-3
ence by helping in the Freshmans
Orientation Course. Both depart-
ments and the College should be
encouraged in addition to estab-
lish courses for seniors designed to
aid in this general policy.
llodular Courses
The Commission has considered
alternative ways of scheduling
classes, recognizing in particular
hat there are some advantages to
he "modular scheduling" adopted
;
.
is
f
i
53
i
should help to integrate the educa-'
tional experience. Serious struc
tural problems remain: our failure Official Information
to make counseling more effective
in twenty years of complaining is The College's present catalogs
disgraceful; few students or facul- fail to fulfill their multiple pur-
ty have easy access to essential poses as presently written, despite
information; we have still just be- I great efforts by an over-worked
gun after two generations of good staff, and they are often more a
intentions to make effectivese of1 record of what was once intended
residence halls as places of learn- than a description of what is cur-
ing: andour size and complex or- rently available. Believing these to
ganization too often transforms be critical inadequacies, the Com-
flexible opportunities into yet more mission recommends that:
regulations.
The elimination of the automatic
insistence upon graduation within'
eight terms would represent a more
fundamental change, but the Com-
mission is convinced that its pres-
ent effects can be pernicious: it
often discourages good planning,
forces some students to take any-
thing at the last minute that will
meet degree requirements, re-
quires a 'steady barrage of peti-
tions from undergraduates with ex-'
cellent reasons for slightly extend-'
ing their education, and discour-'
ages the poor from coming at all.
All thes6 recommendations would
have the further effect of relieving':
the Administrative Board of the;
burden of being bureaucratic1
perimental settings (such as the that upperclass courses in this Col-
Residential College, Pilot Pro- lege are usually better than un-
gram, Course Mart, Mini-courses, derclass courses, that interdisci-
etc.) which may receive a general plinary and experimental courses
dispensation from this require- are starved for staff, and that
ment. Any other request for devia- many students in their first year
tion requires a recommendation lose enthusiasm and time before
from the department in which the ' beginning to find their way in The
course is listed and the approval University. Having, after long dis-
of the Curriculum Committee. Pro- cussion, rejected the idea of creat-
vision must be made to assure that ing a separate underclass college'
any student who wishes may have or several distinct colleges, the
a grade. Commission turned to other de-
vices that would give greater va-
V. 6. Any letter grade submit. riety to the curriculum, more at-
ted with pluses and minuses should tention to the freshman year, and
be so recorded and these distinc-.j more stimvlis to iu*erdiscipli-
tions counted in the grade-point nary teaching at the undergraduate
average. level. (23)
raa~;d vc-rren~e~ Wr ca uemrlc arl
JONATHAN KLEIN, Student, Member of the LSA
Student Government
JOHN LANDE, Student, Member of the College
Curriculum Committee
DOROTHY McGUIGAN, Center for Continuing
Education of Women
HERBERT PAPER, Professor of Linguistics
SUE PAUL, Student, Member of the LSA
Student Government Council
HENRY POLLACK, Associate Professor of Geology
ALFRED SUSSMAN, Associate Dean, Rackhami
Graduate School and Professor of Botany
JIM WEINSTEIN, Student, Member of the Joint
Student-Faculty Policy Committee
CHARLES WITKE, Associate Dean for Curriculum,
LSA, and Professor of Classical Studies
cTA)rr
f
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t
VII. 6. The Dean appoint a task
force of faculty and students to de-
Counseling and Advising ;sign better catalogs and an effi-
cient means of bringing them into
In a report of 1959, Dean Rob- print. The task force should con-
ertson identified the basic weak- sider the possibility of five sepa-
ness of faculty counseling--that it rate publications: 1) An Intro-
was not treated as a fundamental duction to the College, designed
part of teaching, as a necessary both for recruitment and as an aid
supplement to the classroom. Fac- to freshmen, presenting in clear
ed with a similar problem, a Stan- and candid prose the resources of
,ford commission (there is the sour the University, the programs of
solace that advising everywhere is the freshman year, descriptions of
a cause for complaint) declared, courses freshmen are most likely
"The most destructive attitude, to take, a discussion of the course
presently shared by many faculty patterns likely to follow, and some
administrators, and students, is general advice: 2) Distribution and
that advising is essentially an ex-' Concentration, a booklet in which
tra- +rricular activity." The very the distribution requirement would
recent reports of Dean Charles G. be discussed at some length and
Morris to the Administrative Board with examnles, in which half a
sliegest, however, some promising doien members of the faculty
solutions which the Commission ' would be invited to write brief es-
heartily endorses and to which it says discussing the various combi-
hones to add. (26) The efficient dis- nations of qualities (and courses)
semination of up-to-date informa- th't seem to them the bisls for a
tion shoild allow greater attention liberal ednetion, in which a num
I