Committee presents precept reform proposal to U-Council

The findings of a two-month long study on the quality of the University's precept system were presented at a U-Council meeting last night. Members of the precept review and reform committee said the data seems to indicate a "general contentment" with the undergraduate precept experience, though it also identified a number of problems.

Josh Anderson '04, chair of the precept review and reform committee, said the precept survey — sent to students via e-mail in November — showed 65 percent of undergraduates rating their precept experiences as "good," 8.4 percent as "excellent," 24 percent as "fair," and 2.6 percent as "poor."

But Anderson said the committee looked at more than the statistical data. He said that the open responses from the 1,660 returned surveys indicated "a high level of student dissatisfaction."

Woodrow Wilson's ideal of five-student precepts led only by professors and their assistants is no longer practical, Anderson said. Instead, he noted the committee defined the ideal precept system as providing "an opportunity for deep exploration of ideas through active exchange" — a system the committee believes is attainable, but not currently upheld by precepts across the board.

Committee members Vanessa Woods '04, a Daily Princetonian Senior Writer, Paul Stamas '04, Annie Ostrager '05 and William Robinson '04 spoke on topics ranging from the role of students and preceptors to the issue of precept size.

Anderson concluded the presentation with ideas to improve the precept system. These recommendations included mandatory teacher training for all graduate student preceptors, expansion of the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning "Mentoring Program" and awards for excellence in precepting with possible financial incentives. The committee also suggested mid-semester evaluations for all courses and called for an affirmation by students and preceptors of their purpose and responsibilities within the precept.

Following the meeting, Tilghman said she had anticipated many aspects of the committee report prior to the review.

"The first thing that I fully expected is the diversity of experiences students have in precept," she said. "I think it would be highly surprising if all students had the same type of experience." She also said she believed some issues need further study, such as the disparity among the statistical data – which shows nearly three-quarters of the campus rated precepts as "good" or "excellent" experiences while many comments in the free response section were negative.

The remaining half of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of the writing program and 500-student increase.

Kerri Walk, director of the University Writing Program, reviewed the successes of the first semester of freshman seminars. She noted that they received an "overall quality" rating from students of 4.0, where the average for other University classes was 4.2.

She also spoke about the program's success in placing freshmen in the seminars of their choice, students' ability to register for writing seminars online, and the growing popularity of the Writing Center among upperclassmen and graduate students.

Dean Thomas Wright, chair of the facilities planning task force, spoke about housing plans for accommodating the 500-student increase.