NEW CURRICULUM IS ADOPTED; A. B. ONLY DEGREE TO BE GIVEN

The curriculum adopted by the faculty on May 18 is presented below.

The heart of the new system is an enlarged and modified major. Adopting the theory that the graduate of the college should have carried his work in one department sufficiently far to have acquired some degree of self-confidence in handling material within it, the faculty has followed the principle of providing a major constructed as a homogeneous whole. That work in the major subject may be properly tested, the passing of a comprehensive examination has been added to the present requirements for the degree. Undue specialization has not been aimed at in this provision, but rather the advantage which comes from the requirement that each graduate of the college shall have done well a worth while piece of work and shall show that he has done it.

The requirement for distribution contained in (f) and (g) of section II should make it impossible for any student to pursue a course which is too exclusively specialized.

This provision is reinforced by the content of freshman year ( (a) to (e) in section II). In addition, this requirement makes provision for guidance of the student at the point at which he is not properly qualified to choose wisely for himself.

Aside from these features a greater freedom of election is provided than is possible under the present system.

On the principle that differences in degrees have now largely lost their meaning, and that graduation from college is much on the same basis for all, the faculty recommends to the Trustees that in the future a single degree, that of A.8., be given to all the college.

That men of superior ability shall receive the special attention in their major subjects which they deserve, honor courses are recommended for such students. The provision for these students is sufficiently elastic to provide for the varying needs of different departments, and the course will be instituted only so far as the, facilities of the college permit. Students of this type meet the same comprehensive examination as do others, but extra attention is devoted to them as best able to profit by it. The process is not carried on to the neglect of the mass of the college, but is an added factor for the higher stand man. The complete vote follows:

I. The Faculty recommends to the Trustees that beginning with the class entering in 1925 the College shall grant the A.B. degree only.

11. Beginning with the class entering in 1925 the requirements for the degree shall be as follows: (a) Two years selected from the following: modern language, ancient language, mathematics. A year course in each of the two selected. The modern language chosen must be a continuation of that presented for admission. Men who begin a language in college to fulfill the prescription under this head must take two years of that language in college.

(b) One year of English (English 1 and 2.)

(c) One-half year of Citizenship.

(d) One-half year of Evolution.

(e) Physical Education.

(f) Two years of Science; year courses

selected from two of the following subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, Biology, Physiology, Geology. A course in Mathematics elected under (a) above shall not be counted toward meeting this requirement.

(g) Two years from the following group: History, Economics, Political Science, Sociology, Philosophy, Psychology. Year courses selected from two subjects of that group.

(h) A major study according to regulations given below.

(i) Free electives, to bring total to 122 semester hours. Work under the direction of the major department, which takes the place of the fifth course in junior and senior year, shall be included in reaching this total.

Special Schedule Prescribed

III. All prescriptions except (h) and (i) above should be met by the end of sophomore year. That this may be accomplished the following schedule of studies is prescribed:

Freshman Year

(1) Two year courses selected from the following: modern language, ancient language, mathematics.

(2) Citizenship and Evolution.

(3) English.

(4) Physical Education.

(5) History or a science—mathematics may be chosen under this prescription if not taken under (1).

Sophomore Year

(1) Three courses to meet the requirements stated under (f) and (g) in section 11.

(2) Two courses for free election.

Junior Year

(1) Three or two year's courses for free election.

(2) One or.two courses in the major study.

(3) One course in a closely related department.

Senior Year

(1) Two courses for free election.

(2) Two courses in the major study.

(3) The equivalent of a fifth course, to be prescribed by the major department as stated under the description of the major in section IV.

Time Devoted to the Major

IV. In senior year the number of courses normally carried by all students shall be four. Of these, two year courses shall be in the major subject. In addition, the time of the student which would ordinarily be assigned to a fifth subject shall be devoted to special work which shall be prescribed by the major department. This work may consist of an additional regular course in that department; or of such special supervised work not in regular courses as may seem to the department best adapted to meet the requirements of the major.

In junior year five courses shall normally be carried. Of these, one or two shall be in the major subject, as the major department may prescribe. In addition one course shall be in a closely related department, the range of choice to be given the student being prescribed by the major department. All departmental plans for majors shall, however, be subject to the approval of the Committee on Educational Policy.

Nature of the Major

V. The major work shall be planned as a unified, coherent whole; and shall not consist of a series of unrelated courses. Course distinctions shall be retained to such extent as may be necessary to fit the . existing machinery of the college, but are not to be made sufficiently rigorous as to interfere with the establishment of a properly unified major. The major may be confined to the work of a single department, or related departments may offer majors embracing work in each department, if the work is planned and administered as a homogeneous unit. The plan of each department for the prerequisites, scope, content and method of administration of its major shall be submitted to the Committee on Educational Policy and must be approved by that committee before the plan shall become effective.

Treatment of Higher Grade StudentsThe Honor Group

VI. All students who at the end of sophomore year have attained a general average of—(to be determined later), and such others as have attained a high average in the department in which their major is selected, and who have received the recommendation of that department and the consent of the Committee on Educational Policy, may if they elect constitute an honors group, for special treatment in the major subject. Such men, so far as the facilities of the department and the best interests of the students under its charge allow, shall be treated as befits their individual needs and as their individual capacities warrant; they shall receive instruction which, so far as possible, shall be individual or in sections of small size; and the work shall be arranged to enable them to proceed without retardation by the general pace of the college. Departments may arrange courses for such men without regard to the ordinary requirements of hours per week, etc., common to the college. It shall be the endeavor particularly to encourage men of this group to self-reliance in the acquirement of education largely through their own efforts.

Men in the honors group shall not in their major subject be held to the ordinary rules of attendance.

Men in the honors group who fail to take advantage of the opportunities there offered may at the end of any semester be transferred by the department to the general course. Men in the general course who show unusual capacity, upon recommendation of the department and consent of the Committee on Educational Policy, may, at the end of any semester, be transferred to the honors group if such transfer appears practicable.

Ordinary Examinations in the MajorSubject

VII. For students in the general course the usual regulations for course examinations shall apply to all courses except those in the major subject in the second semester in senior year.

Examinations in the major subject for students in the honors group shall not be subject to the ordinary rules of time or place, but shall be regulated by the circumstances of the department, and the progress of the individual in his work. Sufficient evidence must, however, at all times be in possession of the department so that it may inform the dean, whenever he so requests, as to the academic status and progress of any student under its jurisdiction.

Comprehensive Examination

VIII. At the end of senior year, as a prerequisite to the degree, each student shall be required to pass a comprehensive examination in his major subject; an examination which shall test the acquirements of the student in the whole range of this major. No course examinations in the major subject shall be required at the end of this final semester.

Men who pass the comprehensive examination with high credit shall be awarded their degrees "with distinction" in the major subject.

Men who fail to pass the comprehensive examination, shall, upon payment of a suitable fee, be given a second opportunity after the lapse of at least one semester. Further opportunities to take this examination shall be given only by special vote of the Committee on Educational Policy.

Nature of the Comprehensive Examination

IX. The comprehensive examination shall be set and graded with the following points in mind. It shall constitute a test of the major subject as a whole and shall offer the opportunity to the student to show his powers of independent thought in that field. It shall not be a test in which "the main stress is put on the memorization and repetition of facts. It shall not be a test the passing of which is unduly difficult of attainment by men of the lower intellectual level among undergraduate body, who have honestly attempted the work of synthesizing the material of the major subject. It shall, at the same time, be a test sufficiently searching so that each student may have the opportunity of showing to what extent he may have progressed in his powers of handling material in his chosen subject.

Special Arrangements

X. The Committee on Educational Policy is authorized to make such changes in the details of the system outlined above as may meet the special requirements of any individual department, provided that these changes are not such as to bring the major of that department out of harmony with the system as a whole.