Independent Work

The Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) yesterday agreed to recommend stiffening the requirements for independent work undertaken for academic credit, although it did not finalize the proposal.

Members of the student-faculty body cited instances in which students are gaining academic credit for working in a liquor store or running a political campaign and said that students should have to better demonstrate the academic nature of a project they undertake.

The recommendations form part of a package CUE will present to the Faculty Council this spring in a general reveiw of academic regulations in the College.

Suggested changes include requiring independent work to include significant intellectual analysis, limiting the choice of advisers to the subject area of the independent study, and instituting midterm grades.

Some student CUE members expressed fear that some appropriate activities might be excluded.

But Sidney Verba '53, associate dean of the Faculty for undergraduate education and chairman of CUE, told the group, "I can't think of a legitimate topic that would be banned." A student simply would not be able to engage in an activity without seriously analyzing it intellectually and producing evidence that he has done such analysis, Verba said.