Shopping Period Creates Difficulties, But Benefits Are Big

Even at Harvard, no one expects every class to be stellar, and a few duds are just par for the course...though every dud next year will cost you about $2,550.

It may be the price tag, or it may be the time investment, but students will do almost anything to avoid picking a bad course.

When drawing up a list of possible classes, the Courses of Instruction mailed to all domestic undergraduates is only the first place to start. (See story, page B-8.) Then they turn to the CUE Guide, The Crimson's Confidential Guide and word of mouth. (See story, this page).

But the most important part of the process comes the week of classes before registration--shopping period--when students test their options in the one week of classes before registration.

But last February the Graduate Student Council (GSC) reminded the Harvard community of the inconveniences of shopping period with a proposal for a non-binding undergraduate preregistration.

Nearly all undergraduates say that shopping period is one of the most academically enriching parts of the Harvard experience.

However, graduate students say they depend on teaching jobs that often evaporate when the enrollment in large courses drops below the expected level.

Professors echo graduate students' complaints, saying that shopping period wastes a week of class time and often forces them to hire unqualified Teaching Fellows (TFs) when enrollment exceeds expectations.

"Most students are desperate to take really good courses in their precious four years here, and I understand that," says William M. Todd III, incoming dean of undergraduate education.

But, he adds, "As a professor, I hate shopping period....Frankly, I would love to see it go. The negative aspects far outweigh the positive."

Weighing the Options

While students invariably say they feel that shopping period is one of the most important student services that the College provides, Faculty and administrators question its long-term advantages.

First, uncertainty in enrollment means that undergraduates can end up being taught by ill-prepared TFs added to the teaching staff at the last minute.

Todd says that having last-minute TFs is especially problematic in the Core courses, the classes whose enrollment is most unpredictable.

"The nature of a Core course is that it's not introductory, and grad students are not necessarily the ideal teachers for the course," he says. (See story, page B-1.)

In order to ensure that TFs are sufficiently knowledgeable about the often specialized Core courses, many professors spend a great deal of time preparing their TFs and last-minute additions to the teaching staff are often less prepared.

"In the long run, it does not benefit the undergraduate," Todd says.

And Coop officials often come under fire for higher textbook prices they say are a result of unpredictable supply and demand due to the late registration date.

According to Evan P. Mooney, textbook department manager of the Coop, the Harvard Square Coop has a return rate that is 30 percent higher than that of other college bookstores.

Mooney attributes Harvard students' greater tendency to buy books and then return them to the uncertainty of shopping period.

"[Shopping period] is one of the things that makes a Harvard education so expensive," says Owen J. Gingerich, professor of astronomy and the history of science.

Enrollment below the expected level can also drive up the overall cost of a course.

It is Core Office policy not to fire graduate students if eventual enrollment is lower than expected.

To avoid a surplus of instructors, the Core Office gives professors enough funds to hire TFs for only two-thirds of the expected enrollment.

Even with the conservative projections, however, there are occasionally additional TFs in a course, and the cost is passed on to the student.

Professors also say that having a week of lectures before students are committed to the course reduces the week to little more than a sales pitch.

"I have great lectures I give during shopping period because I know that's when it really counts," says Mark A. Kishlansky, professor of history.

Some professors say shopping period effectively reduces the length of the semester by an entire week.

Todd says that last fall, when he taught Literature and Arts C-30: "How and What Russia Learned to Read: The Rise of Russian Literary Culture," he wanted to lay the groundwork for the course in the first three lectures.

"But I knew that for maybe half of the students in the course it would be wasted," he says, adding that he had to compress the material of the first week's lectures into the rest of the semester.

"I hate to waste a week of teaching. It's just excruciating," Todd says.

Todd says he is not satisfied with shopping period in its current form, but some professors say that they believe the advantages of shopping period outweigh the inconveniences.

"It has a lot of dreadful aspects," Gingerich says, but he ultimately comes down in favor of having a trial period. "The advantages outweigh the disadvantages."

Grad Student Interests

Professors and administrators add that the graduate student voice is an important part of the debate over shopping period.

Adam P. Fagen, president of the Graduate Student Council (GSC), came before the Undergraduate Council in February to propose the creation of a non-binding preregistration for undergraduates.

"The issue that we're concerned about is having more of a guarantee of teaching positions," Fagen says. "None of the grad students have any interest in getting rid of shopping period."

Although most graduate students say they join Fagen in pushing for a revision of shopping period, they add that they believe the period has real educational value.

"I'd rather have the flexibility, all things considered," says Felix S.H. Lee, a teaching fellow in Social Analysis 10: "Principles of Economics."

Lee says he feels shopping period has been an inconvenience, but "it hasn't had any effect on my teaching," he says.

Fagen says that although the number of graduate students who end up without a job is very small, shopping period creates a lot of needless stress and anxiety.

The easiest way to solve the problem, he continues, would be to have students submit a list of courses that they planned to take the following semester.

"The way I might envision something is that it would be required, but maybe anonymous, and totally non-binding," Fagen says.

"Graduate students don't care who's in the course," Fagen says. "But having a vague idea is important."

Fagen says that while it is important for students to be well-informed about a course before they commit to it, it is in students' best interest for instructors to be well-informed as well.

Student Outrage

Shopping period is such a valuable part of the Harvard school year that students say they are wary of any proposed changes.

When Fagen proposed a non-binding preregistration to the Undergraduate Council's Student Affairs Committee in February, committee members expressed concern that a non-binding system might eventually lead to the end of shopping period.

"I'm strongly against getting rid of shopping period," says Adriana E. Abdenur '97.

Even math and science concentrators, who tend to have a more rigid set of required courses for their concentrations, say that they find shopping period invaluable in selecting Cores and electives.

"Even as an engineering major I've been able to use shopping period," says David A. Sobel '97, who was a Crimson editor, adding that he found it especially useful when selecting Core courses.

Students say that although they acknowledge the inconveniences that result from shopping period, they are not sympathetic to instructors' complaints.

"God forbid that the teachers should make a sacrifice for the undergraduates," says Elizabeth R. Beasley '98.