The four-by-four taskforce appointed by Lehman that first convened in 2005 was the first task force to recommend the four-by-four. In May 2006 the recommendation passed by a vote of 13-8.
At Friday's meeting faculty members explained their discontent with the plan.
"We are now charging the highest tuition in the country," said law professor Arthur Wilmarth. "Are we going to charge the highest tuition and cut the amount of classroom time?"
According to the report that the taskforce released in October, the study of the four-by-four curriculum was motivated by both academic and financial reasons, but academics were the primary focus of the task force.
The four-by-four report states that the four-by-four may or may not involve reduced class time, but Faculty Senate members said only reduced class time would lead to the financial savings that the report predicts. They were critical of the academic benefits of a model that decreased class time.
Outgoing University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg has repeatedly pushed for the four-by-four because of its potential for substantial cost savings. The four-by-four curriculum will generate a minimum savings between $5 and $10 million annually, according to a school report.
Trachtenberg told The Hatchet earlier this month that he would like the new Columbian College dean to support the four-by-four plan. Candidates will be interviewed in February and March, and a new dean will be in place by July 2007.
Administrators continue to point to the four-by-four as a way to remedy what they see as low academic challenge and engagement at the University.
The Faculty Senate's resolution recommends as an alternative to the four-by-four that the faculty review their curriculums beginning next fall in collaboration with President-elect Steven Knapp.
The resolution is also critical of evidence that points to low academic engagement and challenge, stating that there has been modest improvement over the past few years according to exit surveys of seniors.
In April each of the schools will still be voting on the four-by-four. Schools can potentially vote in different directions, but Faculty Senate members said they did not believe different curricular structures among schools would be plausible.
"I think it would be chaos for some schools to reject it and others to not," said philosophy professor William Griffith.
At Friday's meeting faculty members explained their discontent with the plan.
"We are now charging the highest tuition in the country," said law professor Arthur Wilmarth. "Are we going to charge the highest tuition and cut the amount of classroom time?"
According to the report that the taskforce released in October, the study of the four-by-four curriculum was motivated by both academic and financial reasons, but academics were the primary focus of the task force.
The four-by-four report states that the four-by-four may or may not involve reduced class time, but Faculty Senate members said only reduced class time would lead to the financial savings that the report predicts. They were critical of the academic benefits of a model that decreased class time.
Outgoing University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg has repeatedly pushed for the four-by-four because of its potential for substantial cost savings. The four-by-four curriculum will generate a minimum savings between $5 and $10 million annually, according to a school report.
Trachtenberg told The Hatchet earlier this month that he would like the new Columbian College dean to support the four-by-four plan. Candidates will be interviewed in February and March, and a new dean will be in place by July 2007.
Administrators continue to point to the four-by-four as a way to remedy what they see as low academic challenge and engagement at the University.
The Faculty Senate's resolution recommends as an alternative to the four-by-four that the faculty review their curriculums beginning next fall in collaboration with President-elect Steven Knapp.
The resolution is also critical of evidence that points to low academic engagement and challenge, stating that there has been modest improvement over the past few years according to exit surveys of seniors.
In April each of the schools will still be voting on the four-by-four. Schools can potentially vote in different directions, but Faculty Senate members said they did not believe different curricular structures among schools would be plausible.
"I think it would be chaos for some schools to reject it and others to not," said philosophy professor William Griffith.
