The five-college interchange has long been a selling point for the College in trying to entice prospective students. "Without the five colleges, Amherst is simply Williams. It is simply a small college in an out-of-the-way place," said Austin Sarat, Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science.
According to Five Colleges, Inc, the governing body for the five college interchange, there were more than 4,666 exchanges last year between the participating schools, making it one of the most active cross-registration programs in the country.
The office of the registrar reported that Amherst has always been a net importer of students, meaning that it receives more students than it sends out to Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire, or UMass. According the registrar, during 2001-02, Amherst sent out 443 students and received 962 students from the other four member institutions, making it a net importer of 519 students.
"The idea began with the notion that Amherst would be playing a special role in this," said President Tom Gerety, citing the College's wealth and geographic situation in the center of the five colleges.
However, looking at the interchange as a whole, UMass took in 1170 students from the other colleges, making it the largest importer of students. Smith was a close second, importing 1162 students. Hampshire received the least number of exchange students, taking in 544 students last year. "[It is helpful] to recall that Hampshire was founded with the idea that students would actually utilize the other schools," said Carol Angus, who is the director of information and publications for Five Colleges, Inc.
According to the Registrar, during 2001-02, most of the Amherst students who took courses at other institutions went to UMass, followed by Smith, Mt. Holyoke and Hampshire. Hampshire sent the most students to Amherst, followed by UMass, Mt. Holyoke and Smith.
The Office of the Registrar said that it is also very rare for Amherst students to take more than two classes total at another school during their entire college experience. Students from the other four colleges generally take more interchange courses. This fall alone, Amherst sent out 157 students who enrolled in 169 different courses at the other four colleges, whereas it took in 478 students who enrolled in 539 different courses.
This trend begs the question of why Amherst students are less likely to take advantage of the interchange than their counterparts at other schools. According to Registrar and Director of Institutional Research Gerald Mager, this tendency could be for various reasons. Students may be satisfied with their courses at Amherst, they may find that they are able to satisfy their requirements without going elsewhere or they may find that their schedules are not conveniently meshed, according to Mager.
According to Professor of English William Pritchard, English courses at UMass are so large that a lot of people come to Amherst to benefit from smaller class sizes. "On the whole I feel that there are more benefits for five-college students than Amherst students," said Pritchard, "We do things better than they do at Hampshire, UMass, Mt. Holyoke or Smith."
There have also been instances where the Registrar has refused to award credit for courses students have taken at five-college partners. "I took a course in Military Science 101 at UMass, but the Registrar wouldn't give me credit because it was not academic enough," said Myrialis Moran-Nieves '03.
However, Moran-Nieves noted that her experience at UMass taking a graduate-level course has been completely positive. "A lot of the time, Amherst professors baby us and let us talk more than we should. My UMass professor really directs our conversations and so my conversations really are not fruitless as they sometimes are at Amherst," said Moran-Nieves.
Other students have commented that their classes at the other colleges tend to be more discussion-oriented. "My courses at other colleges are really focused on discussion. The professors will not give you an answer when you raise a question in class," said Emmanuel Ashamu '04.
Students who have taken courses at other colleges generally reported that the overall quality of the courses were on par with those at Amherst. "I feel that they are at the same level. Sometimes my discussions at UMass and Hampshire have been even more up to par. Amherst students do not speak in class often because they feel that they have to prove themselves. Students at UMass or Hampshire are less reluctant to speak, so my discussions have often been more engaged than my conversations at Amherst," said Moran-Nieves, who added that it is difficult to judge whether the quality of courses is better at Amherst or at the other four colleges. "I do not think that it can be compared. I think that the five colleges do a really good job in keeping their courses engaged and having professors available to the students," Moran-Nieves. "They are only different because the students are different, but I feel that the level of the professors' ability to teach is the same."
Ashamu pointed out other advantages to the interchange experience. "The only difference is that going to another campus affords a different learning environment and adapting to that has been interesting and challenging," said Ashamu.
According to Moran-Nieves, there is often a stigma at Amherst about the competitiveness of students from other campuses. But because the program is voluntary, most professors note that the students who elect to participate are committed to their courses. "I find a lot of self-selection once a student has chosen to take a course at Amherst. They are faithful to the course because they have selected to do this. I have never had any trouble," said Sarat.
Other professors noted that, while some five-college students excelled, others had significant difficulties. "The academic extremes are much more dramatic when it comes to five-college students. There have been some students who were really good and others who did not have a clue as to what kind of criticism I was looking for. But, then again, the same thing happens to a lesser extent at Amherst," said Pritchard.
According to Lorna M. Peterson, executive director of Five Colleges, Inc., one of the great advantages of having cross-registration is that students have 5,000 courses to choose from instead of 500, which provides for a much broader and deeper curriculum and allows students to use the resources of the other institutions. This is especially useful with departments with limited offerings. According to Mager, "The five-college interchange affords students the opportunity to take courses that are not offered [at the College]."
In the past, students have pursued Italian language courses at UMass. Pritchard has also recommended that students take advanced poetry-writing courses at Mt. Holyoke because they have a poet-in-residence. "The five-college interchange benefits Amherst students in that it allows them to tap into the resources of a university," said Professor of religion Susan Niditch.
Another benefit of the interchange is that students are able to go onto a different campus and experience a different culture and a different perspective. "The five-college exchange makes the Pioneer Valley a more cosmopolitan place. It provides Amherst students opportunities to take courses and attend lectures and participate in academic life in a way that is larger than Amherst itself could provide. Students get the advantages of different learning environments," said Sarat.
Even for students who do not take advantage of cross-registration, there are benefits to having five-college students in classrooms. "The five-college interchange brings to Amherst a diversity of students in terms of education, background and values," said Sarat.
For students at the College, the experience of going to another school has also introduced new perspectives and ideas into class discussions. "I really appreciate the conversations that we have in class at Hampshire. They are always coming from a very unique perspective," said Ashamu.
"Cross-registration from other colleges tends to draw foreign students to Amherst," said Professor of political science Ronald Tiersky. "Having foreign students, particularly European students, in my European politics classes is an obvious gain in authenticity, and a lot of the issues we discuss take on greater impact because the foreign students have lived these problems."
Many professors appreciate what five-college students bring to class. "Whenever there are people with different perspectives, it enriches the class. It is certainly true that when you are teaching, you are not in your mind distinguishing between five-college students and Amherst students," said Niditch.
Other professors are a little more skeptical about the real tangible benefits of the interchange. Pritchard questioned the value of having five-college students in class. "On the whole, five- college students are more likely to remain silent in class, especially if this is their first course here. I feel that five-college students don't contribute in some tangible way to the classroom," said Pritchard.
The five-college interchange program also becomes problematic when it comes to limited enrollment courses because Amherst students are sometimes displaced by five-college students. "In limited enrollment courses, five-college students create greater pressure. If you try not to discriminate on the basis of five-college status, that just creates more competition for spaces in the class," said Sarat.
Another problem with the five-college interchange is transportation. This is usually the main obstacle for students who may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with using the PVTA. But, according to the administration, students rarely complain about time spent in transit.
While there is a bit of controversy over the merits and demerits of cross-registration, most students at Amherst have reported that it has been a very enriching experience.
"I definitely encourage people to take five-college courses," said Moran-Nieves. "It definitely turns out to be an experience that is worthwhile."