History Dept. Ponders Credit for Soph Tutees

The History and History and Literature Departments are giving serious consideration to proposals to make sophomore tutorial a credit course, the CRIMSON learned yesterday.

History tutors are almost unanimously in favor of giving credit for sophomore tutorial, although they as yet have no formal proposal. The Department postponed action at its regular meeting yesterday to allow the tutors more time to prepare a specific plan.

The Department of History and Literature has reportedly already prepared a plan which would make sophomore tutorial a half-course running through the year (like General Education Ahf). Students would receive a half-year credit for tutorial, but no specific grade except "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory."

Even if approved by a Department, any proposal to make sophomore tutorial a credit course must be presented to the Faculty's Committee on Educational Policy and would probably have to come to a vote of the full Faculty. Social Studies is the only field of concentration now offering credit for Sophomore tutorial.

The amount and type of credit to be awarded for tutorial would have to be decided by negotiations between the Department and the Administrative Board, and a change in the sophomore programs of History or History and Literature might affect tutorial in several other departments as well.

Sophomore tutors in History have been discontented with the present system of tutorial without credit for several years, but have never found much support within the Department for a change in requirements. At yesterday's meeting, however, most of the Board of Tutors and several senior Departmental members suported some revision in the program.

The tutors argue that because sophomore tutorial is now a fifth course without credit, some students do not give much attention to the program, have poor attendance records, and turn in papers late or not at all. Although better students do good work, the tutors believe that these students are not getting the recognition and reward their efforts deserve.

Several Department members argue that grades are so important for admission to graduate schools, that a student will do his best work only when he is receiving credit.

Within the History Department, most opposition to a change in sophomore tutorial comes from members who feel that credit will destroy the basic purpose of tutorial, and that the presence of a grade will make free give-and-take between tutor and tutee impossible.