“It seems odd to award honors to students who have not earned honors in their concentrations, given that work in the concentration is the most important component of undergraduates’ work here,” Pedersen wrote in an e-mail.

The third item on the agenda suggests reducing the number of Core requirements from eight to seven—a measure that has been discussed off and on for four years.

The Standing Committee on the Core first suggested reducing Core requirements in 1997, but eventually rejected the proposal.

Pedersen said the recent increase in the Freshman Seminar program had sparked renewed interest in the issue.

She said that with fewer Core requirements, students could make better use of the freshman seminar electives.

In fact, Pedersen and the Core Standing Committee had initially explored the possibility of integrating freshman seminars into the Core, but concluded that “Freshman Seminar instructors should not be constrained by the Core guidelines as they design their seminars.”

According to Hauser, the proposal is likely to be a controversial one.

“Many people have very personal feelings about this issue as it is one about striking a balance between general education and enough flexibility,” Hauser said.

Student CUE member Rohit Chopra ’04 said he was pleased with the new initiatives.

“I am happy to see that we have Deans who are aggressively addressing these issues —particularly ones that ease requirements for students,” Chopra said. “It is important that we tackle this stuff.”

—Staff writer Jessica E. Vascellaro can be reached at vascell@fas.harvard.edu.