RECENT ACTIVITIES
Fall 2004
The Task Force kicked off the Fall semester by meeting with Candace Royer, head of the Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation, to discuss the Physical Education requirement. The members also heard from representatives of Advocates for Awareness, who presented their case for the development of a "Diversity Requirement" for all students.
After several meetings beginning this summer, the four Working Groups reported back to the Task Force on their progress. The groups shared their deeper understanding of their assigned issues within the educational commons and suggested solutions to be considered by the Task Force in more detail in the future. For more details on the Working Groups, see the summary of Summer activities.
Having reported back to the Task Force, the summer working groups were disbanded and new subcommittees were formed to focus on more detailed aspects of the educational commons. These new groups are:
Click on the name of the Subcommittee above to download a copy of its charge.
The Task Force also spent considerable time this term drafting a set of "Working Assumptions" to be shared with the MIT community. The purposes of the assumptions are four-fold:
- To provide a good first approximation of current discussions within the Task Force regarding the desired outcomes of an MIT education
- To identify priorities as well as capture what is unique about MIT
- To articulate to the MIT community the direction of the Task Force discussions and stimulate discussion about these desired outcomes
- To establish a standard by which to measure the appropriateness of Task Force recommendations as they are developed
The Task Force considers the Working Assumptions to be a living document that will evolve over time with feedback from community members. In order to garner this feedback, the Task Force has begun visiting with faculty across Institute at departmental meetings. The members plan to have visited all departments by late February. To download and review the Working Assumptions, click here. Then, send your comments to the Task Force via email.
The student members of the Task Force have also spent the fall semester pulling together a Student Advisory Committee (SAC) that will make formal recommendations to the Task Force. To learn more about the SAC, visit the Student section of the website or send email to edcomm-request@mit.edu.
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