"I understand [him] feeling that way," Ameersays. "Some students have not perceived us asaccessible. I'm sorry about that."

Ameer says he encourages students with problemsto contact him in the future.

Vito Perrone, director of teacher educationprograms at the School of Education, says he andother faculty members are working to improvecommunication between faculty and students.

"We are in the process of streamlining theprogram, making it more integrated with local highschools," Perrone says. "After this transition,most problems will go away."

In the past, the program has allowed studentsto complete their classroom observation andstudent-teaching at their convenience. Somestudents would complete one of the requirementsand then wait more than one semester to finish theother.

Ameer says such delays may have caused studentsto forget some of their skills. Therefore, UTEPofficials will now encourage students to completeboth requirements in succession.

"It will make it a more active, intenseproject," Traver says. "The more [UTEP] studentsknow their kids, their school's culture and theirmentor teacher, the better the program will be."

But most students say UTEP met their goals andhelped prepare them to be successful teachers oncethey complete the program.

"UTEP really gave me an edge," says Emily J.Parks '93, a graduate of the program who nowteaches high school in Westwood, a Boston suburb."They teach new methods and often improve ontraditional classroom models. Other teachers [atWestwood] are really impressed."

Andre says UTEP has been the capstone of hiscollege career and that he encourages all Harvardstudents to consider teaching.

"It's been a roller coaster, closer to reallife than school," Andre says. "But it's reallyworth it."

Brunner also praises UTEP.

"[It] prepares you for life. When you can teachand get the respect of students, that's reallyspecial," she says. "I really feel that if you canteach, you can do anything.