Faculty Axes Phys. Sci.

The Faculty Council yesterday approved an Educational Policy Committee (EPC) recommendation to eliminate the physical sciences concentration.

"The EPC recommended to eliminate the concentration after the Class of 1999 and the council reluctantly went along with the recommendation," said McKay Professor of Mechanical Engineering Frederick H. Abernathy.

The physical sciences program, which has a traditionally low enrollment, is geared to students who want an exposure to physical sciences but who plan to enter a career in another field.

"The purpose of this concentration is to permit undergraduates to have a strong component of the physical sciences in their education without being committed to the required programs for concentration in the Departments of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Applied Sciences, or Earth and Planetary Sciences," according to the Fields of Concentration manual.

According to Abernathy, some faculty members feel the concentration does not meet Harvard's standards for in-depth study into a field.

"We wanted to change some of the rules, but we didn't have a tutorial or a department behind the concentration," said Abernathy who is also the chair of the physical sciences committee.

The program requires basic courses in mathematics, chemistry, physics and geology or astronomy.

The basic requirements currently call for 12 half-courses with an additional four half-courses for an honors degree.

"The concentration appeared to be not much more than an assemblage of introductory courses," said Dean of Undergraduate Education Lawrence Buell.

Students will be admitted into the concentration for the final time this year.

"[The EPC's] study turned up questions of whether the committee had the criteria to decide what the concentration ought to be, and the decision was less articulated than a concentration should be," said Buell.

The concentration's enrollment has fluctuated between three and 12 in the past four years

According to Abernathy, some faculty members feel the concentration does not meet Harvard's standards for in-depth study into a field.

"We wanted to change some of the rules, but we didn't have a tutorial or a department behind the concentration," said Abernathy who is also the chair of the physical sciences committee.

The program requires basic courses in mathematics, chemistry, physics and geology or astronomy.

The basic requirements currently call for 12 half-courses with an additional four half-courses for an honors degree.

"The concentration appeared to be not much more than an assemblage of introductory courses," said Dean of Undergraduate Education Lawrence Buell.

Students will be admitted into the concentration for the final time this year.

"[The EPC's] study turned up questions of whether the committee had the criteria to decide what the concentration ought to be, and the decision was less articulated than a concentration should be," said Buell.

The concentration's enrollment has fluctuated between three and 12 in the past four years