Five department chairmen indicated yesterday that dvoting 10 per cent of their department's undergraduate teaching time to General Education would not cause any significant changes in course offerings.
The Faculty approved the 10 per cent requirement Tuesday by a margin of 3 to 1.
The problem of meeting the requirement hinges on whether time teaching "designated courses,'--departmental courses which students could take to fulfill their Gen Ed requirement--would be considered as part of the 10 per cent.
Paul M. Doty, professor of chemistry and chairman of the Special Committee to Review the Present Status and Problems of the General Education Program, said yesterday that "the spirit of the requirement is that it would not include courses on the designated list."
However, department chairmen interviewed yesterday said they expect that the teaching of designated courses will be counted towards fulfillment of the 10 per cent rule.
David G. Hughes '47, chairman of the Music Department, said that the department would be contributing its 10 per cent if Music 1 were designated for General Education. He said he believed that Music 1 and "several" other courses offered by the department would make suitable Gen Ed courses.
Changing the titles of these existing courses, he said, would put the Music Department's contribution to Gen Ed well over the 10 per cent minimum.
Seymour Sllve, chairman of the Fine Arts Department, said that his department does not have the store of courses whose titles could be changed to contribute its 10 per cent. If Fine Arts 12, which he said should be considered a Gen Ed course, combined with the department's three upper level Humanities courses, does not total 10 per cent, then the department will not be able to meet the requirement.
He said that he does not now have the personnel necessary to create new courses, and he will not alter old courses because this would be "unfair" to undergraduates and graduates who are studying Fine Arts.
Arthur A. Maasu, chairman of the Government Department, said "We have contributed more than our share in the past and will continue to do so in the future." Stuart P. Atkins, chairman of the German Department, emphasized, "We are doing 10 per cent right now."
Francis M. Rogers, chairman of the Romance Languages Department, said that he was "very excited" by the program outlined by the Faculty. "We have contributed our share to Gen Ed over the years," he said, and intend to "interpret this requirement literally and more so."
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