( Rick Tilden '71 and Steve Bowman '72 were involved in the activities of New College and are now members of the Committee on Undergraduate Education. )

The recommendations presented below are designed to make undergraduate education at Harvard and Radcliffe more responsive to what we perceive to be the needs, goals, and feelings of students in 1970. We have not tried to offer a detailed philosophy of education which could provide a context and justification for our proposals. Instead, we have adopted as guiding principles the concepts of flexibility and experimentation and have grounded our suggestions in the unique nature of the system of educational resources that is Harvard University.

We hope that our ideas will be judged primarily by educational criteria, but the political and economic implications of our plan are worth considering. We find them exciting. For example, the most striking of our recommendations are probably the three-year A. B. program and the flexible course load. Consider the implications for admissions and scholarship policies: with from fifteen to twenty per cent ( our estimate ) of the students in the Colleges leaving a year earlier than they normally do now, many rooms are made available for women and other groups that are under-represented in the student body. And most scholarship recipients would not have to be helped financially for more than three years, which means that others may be admitted.

Academic Calendar

Fall term begins in early September and lasts until Christmas recess, with the last week and a half for exams. There is no college-wide reading period: course instructors may schedule reading periods if and when they wish. Course grades are due at the Registrar's office at the end of the first week in January.

The month of January is a period of INTENSIVE STUDIES for those who wish to participate, an extended vacation for others.

Spring term extends from early February to the end of May. Exam period is the last week and a half, with flexible and optional reading periods scheduled by instructors. By the end of the first week in June, course grades must be submitted to the Registrar and students' rooms must be vacated.

Course Load and Requirements for the A. B. Degree

RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT: Ordinarily, an undergraduate will be in residence for at least six full terms, with exceptions granted for work done for degree credit at other institutions (including transfer students and those studying abroad). Opportunities for pursuing academic work at other colleges for up to one full year should be extended to students outside Junior Year Abroad programs. A student should also be allowed to receive credit for up to one full term of field work pursued while not enrolled at an academic institution if and only if he pursues the work under the sponsorship and guidance of a member of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

In no case will an A. B. degree be awarded to a student who has not spent at least FOUR full terms in residence in Harvard or Radcliffe College. Students living off-campus maintain affiliation with one of the residential Houses, and if they enroll in courses in the University they are considered in residence. Dudley House will be dissolved.

Payment of full tuition for one term allows a student to enroll in up to six courses during that term. Ordinarily he will not take more than four courses in any one term, but up to two additional courses may be taken with the consent of the student's advisor. Any student may take fewer than four courses (as few as one) if his advisor consents. In no case will a rebate be granted on tuition for taking fewer than four courses in one term, but a student may choose to enroll in one or more summer school courses and pay reduced summer school tuition if he has taken a partial course load during any term.

COURSE REQUIREMENT: Eligibility for the A. B. degree is achieved upon the satisfactory completion (with a "credit," "pass," or a letter grade) of TWENTY-SEVEN TERM COURSES. One Intensive Study undertaken in January counts as one term course. By filing appropriate petitions a student may substitute a project for course work. If the project is to count toward concentration requirements, the student must obtain the approval of his departmental Committee on Undergraduate Instruction or the Committee on Special Studies. In all other cases, approval of the students' House Committee on Educational Policy must be obtained. These committees are described below.

A student may graduate after three years by taking four courses each term and an Intensive Study each January for the necessary 27 term courses. (A student who does not want to take an Intensive Study in January has the option of taking a fifth course during a term and still graduating in three years.) A student may also remain in the College for any part of a fourth year at regular tuition rates.

The flexibility inherent in these proposals allows an undergraduate to proceed at his own pace. He might, for example, elect to take Chemistry 20 and only one other course for one or two terms, making up for the reduced load in other terms. As a general recommendation, though, we ask the science departments to grant double credit for courses that demand heavy investments of time in laboratory work.

We would expect the average length of stay in the College to be between three and three and a half years.

ADVANCED STANDING AND PLACEMENT: We applaud the successful effort of many high schools to offer college-level courses to their students, but we view critically the tracking systems that A. P. and other programs have generated. Our criticism extends to the policies of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, for Advanced Standing and Honors distinctions have created divisive labels that are unnecessary and that have educational and social consequences which are often detrimental. We recommend that the present policy of granting Advanced Standing to selected entering students be terminated. The chance to graduate in three years minimizes the impact of this change, and we do not feel that an A. B. should be awarded for less than three years of college experience (either at Harvard or elsewhere).

Granting degree credit for scores on A. P. exams is a separate issue. We disapprove of the increasing tendency to grant credit for performance on exams alone. We view college courses and projects as whole experiences whose value should rest at least as much in their interpersonal and broadening aspects as in the information absorbed and gauged by exams. Consequently, we recommend: