The Education Working Group of the Institute-Wide Planning Task Force released its final report on December 16. Its cost-cutting recommendations include modifications to Add and Drop Date, an increase to the number of undergraduates, and the elimination of Athena computers.

More changes to the core curriculum, known as the General Institute Requirements (GIRs) are in order. At the faculty meeting last May, the proposed changes to the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) requirement passed, restructuring the HASS categories and simplifying the HASS requirement. The changes to the science portion of the curriculum went up for a vote at a special February faculty meeting and did not pass. Dean of Undergraduate Education Daniel E. Hastings SM ’78 and Dean for Curriculum and Faculty Support Diana Henderson updated the status of the changes at the October faculty meeting.

Despite changes to the Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) format — including optional problem sets — last semester’s failure rate for 8.01 (Physics I) was equivalent to that of last year’s 8.01 class, according to course administrator Thomas J. Greytak ’63. Eleven percent of 8.01 students received either a D or F grade last semester. Significant changes to the course included new in-class, hands-on demonstrations in addition to existing weekly experiments and making problem sets optional.

A recent proposal to allow second-semester freshmen to move into their respective fraternity, sorority, and independent living group (FSILGs) houses has generated campus-wide discussion. If implemented, it would be a major change to the 1998 decision that requires first year students to live in campus dormitories in response to the concerns about safety and risk management with the FSILG system.