Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel said yesterday that the writing-intensive seminars proposed as a requirement for all students beginning with the Class of 2005 are the culmination of reviews of the University's writing program conducted during the last two years.
"An internal committee of faculty and administrators undertook a review of our writing program," Malkiel said. "They worked all year both assessing the program as they understood it and gathering extensive data from students by way of surveys."
After consulting instructors of University writing courses, the internal committee submitted its report to University administrators in the fall of 1999.
Another University-sponsored committee — comprising writing experts from a range of universities including Harvard, Duke and Cornell — then conducted a similar review of Princeton's writing program and submitted its own recommendations.
Malkiel announced the plan to revamp the writing requirement during a USG meeting Sunday night. If the program is approved in a faculty vote slated to occur sometime before Winter Break, the Class of 2005 will be required to attend one of approximately 100 special seminars to fulfill the University's writing requirement.
She said, however, that students would not play a role in the vote that decides whether the program is adopted. Students were a key part of shaping the proposal, Malkiel said, but the faculty alone will vote and make the final decision.
Members of the faculty generally reacted positively yesterday to the revamped writing requirement.
History professor Anthony Grafton, who has taught HIS 211w: European History from Antiquity to 1700, said he believes the University's current writing requirement system needs improvement.
"Many of the 'w' courses don't end up teaching writing," he said. "Writing gets in the way of the course content, and the course content gets in the way of teaching writing."
Professor David Thurn, who teaches Writing 151: The Craft of Writing, said he believes students would benefit from the size of the revamped writing seminars, which would have no more than 12 members.
"I think it's a superb proposal," he said. "The opportunity for students to take the writing requirement in a small writing seminar in a context that will allow the teacher to give intensive focus to writing as well as the subject matter, is something we've needed for a long time."
Malkiel said Princeton may have to hire additional personnel to teach the new writing seminars, but she said administrators have not yet determined the process through which those instructors will be selected.
She said Princeton would advertise nationally for qualified instructors to fill the teaching slots. She also noted that the proposed courses would not replace any freshman seminar offerings, but freshman seminars would no longer fulfill the writing requirement. She added that she did not believe freshman seminars would suffer from a lack of attendance in the years ahead, if the proposal were implemented.
Harvard has a writing requirement program similar to the one Malkiel has proposed. Its administrators have conducted exhaustive studies to gauge the effectiveness of their writing requirement seminars, which were first offered in 1872.
They recently tracked 402 students through their four years at Harvard and determined that students felt their writing improved substantially.
Grafton said he believes the proposed program would face certain obstacles if implemented at Princeton next year.
"It's uncharted ground. It's a lot of bodies to find," he said, referring to the need for additional faculty. "It's going to be very costly. It's going to be hard to manage."
Nevertheless, Grafton said the program, if successful, could prove an asset to the University curriculum.
"I think it's quite likely we can do it well. It's just a big thing to take on, but I think everyone agrees that writing is important," he said.
Read More
CPUC discusses University policy changes and classroom scheduling in final meeting of academic year
Cynthia TorresPresentations included minor changes to Title IX policy, Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies (ODUS) protest policies, and updates to the classroom scheduling process.
Presentations included minor changes to Title IX policy, Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies (ODUS) protest policies, and updates to the classroom scheduling process.
Federal funding cuts hit McCarter, Princeton University Concerts
Devon RudolphThe Trump administration announced plans to end the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) on May 2. Both the McCarter Theater and Princeton University Concerts have received notice that federally awarded NEA grants have been rescinded.
The Trump administration announced plans to end the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) on May 2. Both the McCarter Theater and Princeton University Concerts have received notice that federally awarded NEA grants have been rescinded.
Students react as Dean’s Date passes and paper deadlines linger
Clara Docherty and Lia OppermanThis spring end of semester was the first without Dean’s Date serving as the universal deadline for papers, projects, and problem sets.
This spring end of semester was the first without Dean's Date serving as the universal deadline for papers, projects, and problem sets.