ROTC may seek credit for courses

Correction appended

ROTC commander Lt. Col. John Stark is planning to seek accreditation for ROTC senior-level military science courses despite an “unspoken agreement” with the University that ROTC will not do so, Vice President and Secretary Robert Durkee ’69 said.

“There was a clear understanding by both parties at the signing of the [University’s agreement with the program] that ROTC courses would not receive academic credit,” Durkee said in an e-mail.

Yet Stark, commander of Princeton ROTC, said that he does not interpret the language of the contract to mean that credit will never be granted.

“I asked if they would review the courses that we teach that may, someday, be allowed academic credit.” He added that ROTC would also like its courses to be listed in the course offerings and integrated into SCORE for scheduling purposes.

Durkee explained that the ROTC contract officially stipulates that all decisions about academic credit will be made by the faculty.

“[The Army] preferred that the agreement stop there, with the clear understanding that if it came before the faculty, [the faculty] would not grant credit,” Durkee said.

Deputy Dean of the College Peter Quimby told Stark that, since the lieutenant colonel has a doctorate and is a lecturer in the history department, it might be possible to accredit his courses, Stark said.

Stark added that he has held off approaching the University officially because he has been advised by several faculty members that the University would not “accept the academic rigor of the courses compared with other Princeton courses.”

“Right now, only Princeton and Cornell have programs at all [in the Ivy League], and I did not want to do anything to endanger the goodwill of the University, so I decided to wait for a better time,” he said, explaining that he recently changed his mind about applying to the University for course credit immediately.

The courses for which ROTC might seek formal approval for accreditation as one-credit, yearlong courses are Princeton Army ROTC/Military Science 401 and 402: Leadership Development and the Profession of Arms.

Several students in the ROTC program said they thought their military courses should be considered for accreditation.

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“This will benefit the [cadets] who are currently investing so much time in [military science] classes and stimulate interest amongst the student body in leadership and service for those students who have never had the opportunity to formally investigate it,” cadet George Puryear ’09 said in an e-mail.

Cadet Samuel Gulland ’10 said academic course credit for certain ROTC courses would benefit both ROTC cadets and their University classmates.

“It would help the student body in general by giving them a chance to consider serving the nation through military service,” Gulland said. “I spend a ton of time on ROTC, probably eight to 20 hours a week. Giving us credit for that last year would really help seniors manage their time better.”

Cadet Norman Bonnyman ’12 said that the senior-year classes the program might seek credit for are “quite demanding.”

“There’s a lot of writing of operations orders, military style,” Bonnyman explained. “The seniors in ROTC run the program as if they’re evaluating the juniors. It’s like they’re teaching ROTC.”

Stark echoed Bonnyman’s sentiment. “I believe that, at the junior and senior level, it is academically rigorous enough to be considered for accreditation,” he said.

But despite the demanding nature of the senior-year ROTC classes, Bonnyman said he does not think academic course credit will necessarily benefit the program.

“I think it’s problematic to make it a class if they want to do the normal things that they do to Princeton classes, like grade deflation,” Bonnyman said.

Since ROTC grades impact cadets’ army placement, Bonnyman explained that it might be detrimental for University ROTC cadets to be limited to 35 percent A-range grades in their ROTC classes “while across the U.S., [other] schools are following a different standard.”

Stark added that the accreditation process could enhance the ROTC program even if the processis not successful.

“Even if they would not give credit, it would be helpful to have Ivy League accreditors give us their opinion on how to make our curriculum better,” he said.

Correction

An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Stark as an associate professor. In fact, he is a lecturer.