A high proportion of the department wasinvolved and the various elements were approved atdepartment meetings.

Hankins said the faculty took four separatevotes on different parts of the program. The finalpiece of the new program--the second half of thesophomore tutorial--was passed just last week.

The department has not yet had a meeting tofinalize the program, Hankins said, but theyalready "have people to teach and design thecourses so basically it will be on the books nextyear."

Student Input

The department sought student input for thechanges in two ways.

An undergraduate curriculum committeeconsisting of students in the department providedinput on what they liked and didn't like about theexisting tutorial system and then on how theyliked the new proposals.

Torres, a member of the committee, said thatthe committee did not help create the new tutorialprogram but commented on the proposals coming outof faculty meetings.

"I think the administration in the historydepartment honestly values student's inputand...have developed an effective yet enjoyabletutorial program," Torres said.

"The new tutorial program is a vast improvementover the old," he said.

Hankins, who teaches History 10a, "Introductionto History," said he asked first-years in hisclass last semester what they wanted in a historyprogram.

"We discussed and asked their opinions on whatthey wanted in a history department if they wereinterested in continuing in a history major, so wehave a handle, I think, on what the studentswanted," Hankins said