"The crucial part of the report is the emphasis on support for under-prepared students," said Dean of Students Ben Lieber. The report finds that the College's open curriculum might cause students to avoid introductory courses in departments where they were insufficiently prepared in high school.
"There are many pressing needs, but we believed that solving certain problems all teachers face in the classroom relating to the dramatically different levels of preparation with which students enter Amherst must be addressed before we could proceed to the initiatives in new fields and programs and efforts to revitalize existing ones," said Associate Professor of History and Women's and Gender Studies Martha Saxton. Saxton is a member of the SCAE and the Committee of Six.
Citing difficulties faced by entering students with insufficient quantitative and writing skills, the report proposes college-wide initiatives to strengthen support for students with weak high school preparation.
Expanding on current resources, the report proposes extensive programs in quantitative skills (QS) and writing.
The report also proposes strengthening certain over-arching aspects of the curriculum to ensure that an Amherst education remains "relevant to the changing world." This proposal focuses on expanding and coordinating course offerings in "experiential learning, visual culture and global issues," guaranteeing that all students are exposed to subject matter perceived as essential by the College.
According to President Tony Marx, the Committee of Six is still in the early stages of discussing the report. "That [discussion] includes, prominently, the question of what are our responsibilities towards those students whom we admit but who have difficulty in pursuing their choice of interest ... My personal view is that we have some responsibility to ensure that students we admit are able to study what they want to study," he said.
"I'm not sure exactly yet how we should be thinking about fulfilling that responsibility, but the whole question of what is our responsibility and how to fulfill it are issues I am very interested in discussing with my faculty colleagues," Marx added.
While the SCAE does not have the ability to enact proposed changes, the Committee of Six will consider its proposals this year and delegate responsibility for further action.
While special committees may be created to further investigate avenues for curricular adjustments, the SCAE report recommends strengthening the Committee on Educational Policy (CEP) to lead the faculty in initiating improvements to the curriculum.
Currently, the CEP is responsible mainly for reviewing new course proposals and ranking departmental requests for new faculty positions (FTEs). The broader function of the committee, however, involves considering policy issues brought to the CEP by the Committee of Six.
"[The CEP deals with] problems of any kind in the educational process," said Professor of History Frank Couvares, a member of the CEP. This opens the possibility for the CEP to consider a wide variety of issues this year.
"We hope in the future the CEP will be permanently empowered to give substantial time to broad curricular issues and that initiatives such as that undertaken by the SCAE will in the future come from the CEP. Hence curricular oversight and reform will be ongoing, not sporadic," said Saxton.
According to CEP Chair and, Professor of Mathematics Daniel Velleman, the committee plans to investigate enrollment limits in courses and scheduling in addition to its normal tasks this academic year. Restrictive size limits, conflicting timing and reduced availability of courses have made it difficult in recent years for students to take the courses they want.
"We haven't yet even really delved into these [issues]," said Couvares. Further investigation will be necessary in the search for a solution.
SCAE proposals will be an additional source of curricular reforms under consideration this year, whether or not the CEP ultimately chooses to act on them.
The proposed four-part QS program includes a quantitative requisite for introductory courses that expect students to have attained a basic level of preparation, a diagnostic test to determine whether students have met the requisite, a quantitative skills course to prepare students who do not meet the quantitative requisite, and a summer term science program for students who fall behind in their studies due to additional work from the quantitative skills course.
This program is designed specifically for under-prepared students who aspire to careers in medical, business and information technology professions.
In writing skills, the Committee found that, while over half the students in the class of 2002 entering with SAT verbal scores above 700 enrolled in writing-intensive introductory English courses, less than one third of students with scores below 660 enrolled in such courses. This finding suggests that the curriculum discourages under-prepared students from improving their writing abilities while at the College.
The report suggests incorporating writing more thoroughly into the curriculum by assessing all incoming students' writing skills during Orientation Week and requiring a writing-intensive composition class for students whose performance indicates insufficient preparation.
The report proposes strengthening the writing component of the First-Year Seminars, improving the faculty's ability to provide writing instruction and advice for students who wish to enroll in writing-intensive courses, and expanding the Writing Center.
"We hope to begin appointing small committees to study further the report's as yet unfinished proposals and, with faculty consultation, come up with the design of various experiments to improve the curriculum according to the broad principles enunciated in the report," said Saxton.
"So far we are in the discussion stage, and members of the dean's office are gathering further data on the ways other schools have addressed the challenges our report lays out," she added.
For now, no action has been taken, according to CEP member and Professor of Chemistry Patricia O'Hara.
"We will have to wait until the Committee of Six decides how to prioritize the recommendations and how to proceed," said O'Hara.