Spring Break
USEM shouldn't have been so easily dropped
by Hillel Buechler
Op-Ed | 12/9/08
Posted online at 12:39 AM EST on 12/9/08
The incoming students in the Class of 2013 won't be the only ones negatively affected by the elimination of the University Seminar program, but they will be unquestionably disadvantaged.
Although the USEM program will be substituted by the practically identical and optional First-Year Seminar, as the University clearly understands, when presented with a choice to enroll in an FYS, many students would simply opt out.
Why would a new student fill a precious class slot with a course that could apply neither to the fulfillment of a University requirement nor perhaps (it'll be up to each department) the requirements of a prospective major or minor?
Without the requirement, the University certainly won't have to offer even close to 53 FYS courses, the amount of USEMs it currently offers, allowing for some budgetary savings.
But don't look to apply the law of conservation of energy to these seminar offerings. Amid budget cuts, there will likely be no increase in the total number of courses offered to balance out the courses lost to the disposal of the USEM program. The freed-up professors will probably just fill the teaching positions currently occupied by adjunct faculty.
However, as the incoming first-years find themselves with what can largely be viewed as an extra class slot, non-FYS courses will be filled faster, perhaps crowding out upperclassmen from their preferred classes.
Adding one additional normal course to their schedules may grant first-years greater freedom to pursue their academic interests.
Yet it could also exacerbate the preexisting pressure at Brandeis for students to begin multiple majors and minors at the earliest possible opportunity, especially since departments can allow an FYS, unlike a USEM, to count toward that department's major or minor.
Some complain that under the current USEM policy, professors simply use the USEM as opportunities to bounce their research ideas off of students. The University employs these professors and should subsequently treasure and encourage their endeavors. Beginning next year, some professors seeking to offer samplings of their own research ideas will have lost a useful venue.
Although the USEM program will be substituted by the practically identical and optional First-Year Seminar, as the University clearly understands, when presented with a choice to enroll in an FYS, many students would simply opt out.
Why would a new student fill a precious class slot with a course that could apply neither to the fulfillment of a University requirement nor perhaps (it'll be up to each department) the requirements of a prospective major or minor?
Without the requirement, the University certainly won't have to offer even close to 53 FYS courses, the amount of USEMs it currently offers, allowing for some budgetary savings.
But don't look to apply the law of conservation of energy to these seminar offerings. Amid budget cuts, there will likely be no increase in the total number of courses offered to balance out the courses lost to the disposal of the USEM program. The freed-up professors will probably just fill the teaching positions currently occupied by adjunct faculty.
However, as the incoming first-years find themselves with what can largely be viewed as an extra class slot, non-FYS courses will be filled faster, perhaps crowding out upperclassmen from their preferred classes.
Adding one additional normal course to their schedules may grant first-years greater freedom to pursue their academic interests.
Yet it could also exacerbate the preexisting pressure at Brandeis for students to begin multiple majors and minors at the earliest possible opportunity, especially since departments can allow an FYS, unlike a USEM, to count toward that department's major or minor.
Some complain that under the current USEM policy, professors simply use the USEM as opportunities to bounce their research ideas off of students. The University employs these professors and should subsequently treasure and encourage their endeavors. Beginning next year, some professors seeking to offer samplings of their own research ideas will have lost a useful venue.
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