Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
MORE NEEDED Provosts, Deans to Star in Freshman Seminars Next September, most members of the incoming Class of 1995 will add a special dimension to their fall term experience by taking Freshman Advisor Seminars, thanks to an upsurge in faculty participation spurred by the Provost's Office, several deans, and a number of department heads. The seminars merge academic advising and focused study in very small groups-- usually eight to 10 students per seminar--with an emphasis on interactive learning. The six-unit, mini-subjects, which meet for a couple of hours once a week, fit naturally into a freshman's schedule, complementing the regular array of four science core and HASS subjects. The seminars address an important educational need by putting first-year students into close and sustained contact with members of the MIT faculty, according to Professor Travis R. Merritt, head of the Undergraduate Academic Support Office, which administers the FAS program. "At a place like this, where most first-level instruction takes place in the passivity-inducing framework of the lecture hall, too many freshmen feel that the faculty are beyond their reach," Professor Merritt said. "The small-scale seminar setting closes that gap right away," he added. "Here's a professor, or a dean, or the provost, sitting next to you, week after week, taking a personal interest as you launch your academic career, and inviting you to share part of his or her intellectual life. It sends an unmistakable message about MIT's commitment to undergraduate education." Freshman Advisor Seminars, introduced five years ago as a small experimental initiative, have gradually grown in number to a total of 64 in 1990-91. But 85-90 are needed to accommodate all the freshmen who want one. "I don't enjoy writing letters of consolation to hundreds of disappointed applicants during their first days at the Institute," Professor Merritt said. "We've been waiting for a big breakthrough, and for next year I think we've got it." So far, 75 seminars are slated for 1991-92, and the UASO is hoping for another dozen or so. Professor Merritt credits much of this new-found success to the active support of high-level administrators, including Provost Mark Wrighton, Associate Provost Jay Keyser, Dean of the Graduate School Frank Perkins and Dean for Student Affairs Arthur C. Smith, all senior faculty members. Dean of Management Lester Thurow, Dean of Architecture and Planning John de Monchaux, Acting Dean of Humanities and Social Science Philip Khoury, and several department heads also will lead seminars next fall. "When people as busy as this are willing to get down to the educational grassroots, it becomes clear that we mean business," Professor Merritt noted. Topics for Advisor Seminars vary widely. This year's selection included High- Tech Medicine, Volcanoes, Documentary Movies, Case Studies in Aerospace History, Computer-Aided Physics Lab, Discovering Boston's Museums, How Does It Work and What is It Good For?, Theatre from the Inside, Regulation of Gene Expression, Which One is the Oil Filter?, Uncertainty, and the intriguing The Man Who Mistook His Father for Himself and Other Clinical Tales. One of many noteworthy additions for next fall is A Bag of Firsts, led by Institute Professor Emeritus Philip Morrison, which will explore the creation of the first telescope, the first container, the first chemical reaction, and one more "first" to be chosen by the group. FAS leaders often devote some part of a weekly meeting to advisory issues of common concern--study habits and time management, the Pass/No Record grading system, planning for IAP, selecting majors--as well as to the central subject matter of the seminar itself. In June, all pre-freshmen receive a bulletin describing each available seminar, with a brief bio-sketch of its leader. They return a selection card indicating their top six choices in order of preference. When a seminar has more applicants than spaces, the UASO uses a random draw to determine who gets enrolled. Professor Merritt emphasized that faculty recruitment for next year will continue for another week or two. "We still have a number of choice seats on the bandwagon," he said. "No spontaneous act of volunteerism will go unrewarded."