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University Daily Kansan
Friday, March 20, 1964
College Faculty to Discuss Educational Policy
A special report from the Administrative Committee of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences concerning procedures by which higher education is conducted in the College will be discussed at a faculty meeting Tuesday.
The report, Notes on Educational Policy" is part of a communications issued this week from the office of George R. Waggoner, Dean of the College.
The communication stressed that the points illustrated in the report were only for discussion purposes and "not fully developed proposals ready for formal action."
THE THREE PROBLEM areas considered by the report were the following.
following.
• How can the curriculum be changed to provide students with the opportunity to exercise the initiative and to take responsibility for the pursuit of their education?
Spring Sing Fete Slated for Sunday
Inter-residence Council's (IRC) annual Spring Sing will be in the Kansas Union ballroom at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The theme this year is Serenade to Spring.
Groups from all member halls of Association of University Residence Halls (AURH) will compete for seven trophies to be presented at 5:00 p.m. by Carol Wendt. IRC president.
Spring Fling trophies will also be presented at this time.
Vox Lashes (Continued from page 1)
ished because there was nothing for it, to do.
"UP always cries about too many inefficient committees and then they want to create another one which can do nothing that the administration can't do much better," Bornholdt said.
Jim Cline, Rockford, Ill., junior, and candidate for vice-president of the student body, said the food committee advocated by UP is worthless since each hall has its own food committees to work with the dietitians.
BORNHOLDT ALSO ATTACKED the plan advocating making examinations' files available in the library. He said it had been tried before and proved unworkable because the professors felt it was "an infringement on their academic freedom."
Although Bornholtt commended the Little Hoover Commission he said UP's proposed ASC committee evaluation was not a function of the council members.
Cline added that council members did not have time to sit on all committees and reports could serve as a direct line on the over-all work of the committee.
In regard to the freshman leadership program proposed by UP, Bornholdt said the ASC Public Elations committee had been promoting an apprentice system all year
Contacted after the meeting, Mary Beth Gast, Paola sophomore and Vox representative on the ASC, said Douthart affiliated to "find out how we can benefit from belonging to Vox."
In other business the general assembly ratified Richard Clark, Salina graduate student, as the party's candidate for the graduate school seat.
"There is more interest now in the women's scholarship hall district and Vox has encouraged this." Miss Gast explained.
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- How can the examination procedures on which grades are based be modified to motivate students towards true scholarship and a coherent liberal education?
- How can the over-emphasis on grades and grade point averages be reduced?
The Administrative Committee, whose members were not revealed, submitted with these problems, the following "comments" for discussion by the faculty when it meets at 4:00 p.m., in Bailey auditorium.
4.10 pm.
Changes in curriculum, suggested in the report, were basically to "eliminate or expand all courses of less than three hours credit, adjusting as many courses as possible to four hours credit, and encouraging the faculty to meet their classes less frequently but for longer periods of time."
This change would relieve the student of having to enroll in five or six different courses each semester. The report states that "with this situation the students' intellectual and psychic energy is scattered among several areas simultaneous-
OTHER CURRICULUM changes suggested in the report concerned the ratio of laboratory hours to classroom hours, the ratio of out of class study to the amount of credit given, and the encouragement of seminar, discussion, and laboratory activities.
The report considered the essaytype exam a "desirable alternative" to the objective exam, which the committee felt subjected the
Panel to Discuss Grading System
"Is Our Grading System Obsolete?" will be discussed by a panel at 4:30 p.m. today in the Forum Room of the Kansas Union.
Members of the Current Events Forum panel will be William Bass, assistant professor of anthropology and sociology, Austin Lashbrook, associate professor of the classics, and Frank Thompson, Lawrence senior and president of the Intermediary Board.
student to "short-term memorization, rapid recall, and split-second judgment."
judgment. The committee also reported that the number of exams given during the semester should be reduced to "the minimum necessary for evaluation of a student's performance." This reduction would eliminate "shot-gun" quizzes, which the report states are "unitive devices rather than tests of scholarly ability."
WITH RESPECT to the final examination period the committee suggested in the report that the examination period be expanded to approximately two weeks, that three hours be allowed for each examination, and that no student be required to take more than two final exams in one day.
According to the report, the committee felt that under the present system students must "place a premium on rapid recall and rapid grading."
The report also suggested that a week at the end of each semester should be set aside for reading and reflection. "Final exams follow too
closely upon the pressure-filled last week to allow any time for this purpose," the report stated.
THE GRADING system was the final point discussed in the report. It was suggested that graduation requirements might be stated in terms of hours of passing work rather than in both hours and grade-points. The report also suggested changing the grading scale from A, B, C, D, and F, to H (honors), P (pass), and F (fail).
The committee lastly suggested the use of comprehensive examinations during the junior and senior years. The examination given during the junior year would measure the student's progress in liberal education, and the senior exam would "evaluate his mastery of the major area."
THE ADOPTION of either proposal would make the continued use of the English proficiency examination unnecessary, the report stated.
The committee stressed again that the proposals were not fully developed, but would be a basis for discussion of the stated problems.
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