Know It All

The committee also disagreed over how much final exams should count under the option. Michael Walsh '83, a nonvoting member of CUE, said a final counting 25 per cent of a student's course grade--as Nagy's proposal suggests--would play too small a role in determining a coursewide grade, adding, "What matters is what you know at the end of the course. In some cases it should be 100 per cent."

Others criticized the proposal for penalizing students who missed the final exam because of genuine illness. Charles S. Boulas '83, another member of CUE, noted that the double-asterisk Nagy proposed to place on the transcripts of students whose grades were based on coursework not including a final might reflect poorly on the student forced to miss the final for legitimate reasons.

Nonetheless, committee members generally agreed on the importance of including additional evaluations of a student's work during a term besides just a midterm and a final.

Persuasion

Homans, who said he favored Nagy's proposal, noted that the plan's mixed reception within the Educational Resources Group--a student committee that sends members to CUE--meant that "we're never going to get it through the Faculty Council."

After the meeting, he attributed the proposal's tabling to "a general feeling that it's going to be hard to provide the legislation in enough detail and with legislation in enough detail and with enough zing to go past the Faculty Council."

Nagy said he will canvass Faculty colleagues and "reflect further on it" before resubmitting the proposal to CUE in a half-year or year.