The Student Assembly reaffirmed and expanded the Undergraduate Teaching Initiative and planned a response to the College's new alcohol policy at a busy but brief meeting last night.
The Assembly unanimously voted to add a fourth clause to the UTI calling for an extensive campus-wide report examining the current curriculum, and making suggestions on how it could be improved.
Student Body Vice-President Julia Hildreth '05 said that the new report would be "a review of what students like about the curriculum," and that she felt the administration was ready to "open it up to students and try to get some curriculum changes."
The UTI was a resolution originally passed by the Assembly in the Fall term of 2001 based on study by the Assembly entitled "The Soul of Dartmouth: The Academic Direction of the College" revealed that many Dartmouth students felt that the College was moving too far from its traditional undergraduate focus in favor of becoming a research-driven university.
Already in the UTI were the three original resolutions, which include annual undergraduate assessments of each department, non-monetary awards for excellence in undergraduate teaching and innovative teaching grants.
Though previous initiative components had been passed individually, Hildreth said the decision to reaffirm the entire initiative had been motivated by a desire to make the UTI a more "permanent and continuous" effort.
The Assembly also decided last night that it was, according to Hildreth, "time to respond" to the College's new alcohol policy. Last week several members of the Assembly expressed their disagreement with several parts of the new alcohol policy that went against Assembly recommendations.
Several members voiced particular concern over the proposed rules that would lower the maximum number of students allowed to gather without declaring it a registered party.
Hildreth said the Assembly plans send out a student response via campus-wide Blitz mail, both explaining the new alcohol policy to students and requesting feedback on the new changes.
"We hope to survey everyone and hope to come up with a resolution for the administration," Hildreth said.
The Assembly also voted to elect a new Student Organizations Chair.
