The proposal said that by having students regularly update their Plan of Study—the list of courses they plan to take for the rest of their Harvard careers—administrators could gain preliminary enrollment figures “without compromising the pedagogical benefits of shopping period.”
While council members did not discuss the students’ proposal at their meeting, it may be raised at next Tuesday’s full Faculty debate. After that meeting, the proposal could come to a vote by the Faculty as early as April 8, and, if approved, would take effect for next year’s spring term.
But Josefowitz said he thinks Faculty members need to talk to more students to understand the ramifications of their current plan.
“Students have expressed strong concern about the proposal to the Faculty and they should make a concerted effort to understand how students use shopping period,” he said.
Committee Chairs Named
The Dean also announced at yesterday’s meeting the faculty co-chairs of the committees that will examine the entire undergraduate curriculum over the next few years. The committees are currently soliciting half a dozen other faculty members. Applications for the two student spots on each committee are due to the Undergraduate Council March 12.
“[The Deans] made it clear that these committees are going to be a lot of hard work,” said Professor of Chemistry Eric N. Jacobsen, who was chosen to lead the committee on general education. “It is going to be hard to balance teaching and research, but it is a great opportunity to have an impact on Harvard’s future.”
Jacobsen will co-chair the committee with Professor of Chinese History Peter K. Bol.
Professor of Economics Lawrence F. Katz and Professor of Romance languages and Literatures Diana Sorensen were chosen to lead the committee to study concentrations. Jones Professor of American Studies Lizabeth Cohen and Cabot Professor of Biology Richard M. Losick will head up the committee on pedagogy and Harris and Professor of Government Lisa L. Martin will lead the committee charged to evaluate overall academic experience.
“We looked for faculty with a wide range of intellectual backgrounds and research interests, who were all strongly committed to undergraduate education,” said Dean For Undergraduate Education Benedict R. Gross ’71.
Gross said that the committees will meet several times this spring, begin researching over the summer and hit the ground running next fall.
—Staff writer Jessica E. Vascellaro can be reached at vascell@fas.harvard.edu.