Jody Lanard missed Chinese 102 class last week. Her excuse? She was testifying before the U.S. Senate on the cover-up of lead content in D.C.-area drinking water.
Lanard is a psychiatrist who, with her husband Peter Sandman '67, helped invent the field of risk communication. The native of Princeton Township worked with the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization during the SARS outbreak last year to teach government officials how to respond to crises.
And — for $100 per semester — she is auditing introductory Chinese courses at the University. In her field, Asia is an area of particular concern because its areas of poverty make it susceptible to health crises, which are sometimes improperly handled by government officials.
"It's easy for diseases to go from birds to pigs to humans when they all live together in squalor," Lanard explained. "The Chinese officials cover it up because they believe they can solve it themselves, so they hide it until things get very far along."
Lanard hopes to reach a level of proficiency in Chinese so she can work with government officials in preparation for future health issues. She anticipates auditing courses at the University for the next decade.
"I'll keep taking Chinese until I can walk around Chinatown and speak to people and I'll be using it along the way," Lanard said. "I've fallen in love with Chinese and I've never had such good teaching in my life."
Being able to audit, she said, is "just an unbelievable opportunity."
Now in its fifth year, the Community Auditing Program has allowed more than 2,000 members of the local community to attend lectures at the University on subjects ranging from Shakespeare to economics to molecular biology.
Melanie Rauch of Cranberry, N.J., has audited about eight courses in the history, religion and English departments.
Rauch, who worked as an elementary school teacher and librarian, now tutors University graduate students in English. She first decided to take a Chinese history course because many of the people she worked with had recently emigrated from China.
The majority of auditors take humanities courses, but recently the science and engineering courses have increased in popularity, particularly with retired scientists and physicians.
And while many are retirees or stay-at-home mothers who audit for the sheer joy of attending the lectures, others find that auditing provides them with knowledge essential to their careers.
Ivy Mineley, for example, a practicing attorney in Hopewell, N.J., is currently auditing MOL 214: Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology. She specializes in cases involving the mentally ill and patients with cancer.
"[The course] really does help me out," she said. "And besides, it's fascinating."
In the fall, Mineley audited MOL 345: Biochemistry, which she admitted was a little over her head. "If I take it two or three more times, maybe I'll be able to understand what they're saying," she said.
She has found MOL 214 to be more accessible and keeps up with the reading so she will know the "sacred words" next time she's arguing a case.
"I want to be able to sock it to them," she said. "And I do. I do."
Back to college days
For Richard McGlynn '60, a retired lawyer and judge, returning to the University as an auditor allows him to view his alma mater from a different perspective.
Twice a week, he makes the 50-mile round trip from his home in Far Hills, N.J., to attend ENG 311: Shakespeare II and PHI 203: Introduction to Metaphysics and Epistemology.
In doing so, McGlynn has compensated for one of his biggest regrets from college: missing out on the Shakespeare course — rumored to be among the best classes available at the University.
As a former student, McGlynn, who himself has missed a few lectures to travel with his wife, said he sympathizes with the fluctuating levels of student attendance.
"I think it's sad, but having been there myself, I know the feeling," he said. "I can remember blowing off any number of lectures for any number of different reasons."
Rauch, too, admitted her attendance is not perfect. "I try to attend them all, but life gets in the way once in a while," she said.
Not your typical student
The life of an auditor — optional attendance at lectures, no exams or papers and freedom to choose any combination of classes — may sound ideal to students. As debate rages on the rest of the campus about grade inflation, auditors are free to take courses without considering the impact on their GPAs.
"If I were actually taking the course, I'd probably be flunking," Lenard said, laughing. After falling behind due to her busy traveling schedule, she will likely take CHI 102 over again next year.
That flexibility is one of the major benefits of auditing.
"I've been able to choose the courses based on what I want to study rather than what I have to take for my major or prerequisites," McGlynn said.
But auditors also miss out on class participation and precepts, which they view as essential components of the Princeton education.
"I would love to hear how the undergraduates reflect back to the preceptors," McGlynn said.
"Then again," he pointed out, "we don't pay the $40,000 you pay."
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