In her recent column, "Distributive Justice" (Jan. 15), Tina Praprotnik says, "[T]he main goal of distributive requirements should be to produce well-rounded graduates and to encourage students to explore subjects outside of their chosen field of study." She goes on to point out the flaws in the distributive requirement system, and how that system prevents students from making the most of their undergraduate experience by forcing them to take obscure courses simply to fulfill requirements. In addition to distributive requirements, there is another aspect of our undergraduate education that, while created with the best intentions, has evolved so that it now keeps us from getting the best education possible. That aspect is the Non-Recording Option.
According to the First-Year Office's web site, the NRO is "meant to encourage students to experiment with courses that may be new to them, and in which they may not feel entirely confident." In theory, the NRO should allow us to take ambitious electives without fear of permanently damaging our GPAs. In reality, however, this is often not the case. Many introductory courses that students might want to experiment with are not available for the NRO, and students often abuse the NRO simply to earn an easy credit.
Let's say that a student is a pre-med chemistry major who has to maintain a very high GPA in order to remain competitive when applying to top medical schools. Suppose this student finds that he has a few open spots in his schedule coming up, and has heard great things about a certain introductory government course. Due to his fears about a declining GPA, though, the student will not be able to take the government course because the government department does not offer any NRO-eligible courses.
The same is true (for the most part) for the economics department, which only offers the NRO with Econ 2. This course, however, cannot be used as a pre-requisite for any higher-level econ courses, so a student would not be able to further explore her passion for econ if she loved the class. For two of the most popular departments at the College, then, the impossibility to experiment seems contradictory to the spirit of the NRO. The art history, music, studio art and theater departments also do not offer the NRO. This effectively closes off the arts to students attempting to experiment. Many other departments similarly do not offer the NRO for certain classes, including some introductory courses.
And then there is the side of the NRO that allows a student to effectively slide her way into getting a credit. Students are not allowed to fulfill any of their major or general education requirements with the NRO. This makes sense, because the NRO should not allow students to skip over undesirable, yet essential, parts of their education. However, students can still use the NRO to slack off in an elective. I'm sure we've all heard our friends say, "Whatever. I'll just take the NRO."
Even if a student is not originally intending to slide by, that option can become very appealing as the term goes on. If a student sets his limit at an A- and realizes that he is not going to be able to meet that grade, he will only make the minimum effort to pass the class and get an NR on his record. Especially in a smaller class, where participation is crucial, students' lack of effort can seriously detract from the quality of the course for the rest of the students. It is understandable, therefore, why departments that have no trouble filling classrooms would not want to allow the NRO.
These glaring problems with the NRO need to be addressed. First of all, introductory classes in every department should be available for the NRO. While upper-level classes might require more dedication, students should be able to get a feel for every department without fear of a negative impact on their GPAs. Also, there should be some sort of mechanism in place that prevents students from using the NRO to simply coast through a class. Currently, if a student gets a D in a class and gets the NR on their record, they are still liable for academic action. This is not enough.
I'm not saying that I have the perfect solution to this problem, but some stronger sort of mechanism must be put in place. The College should take action to reform the expectations and availability of the NRO so that it can serve its intended purpose: To allow students to experiment in electives in which they might not feel comfortable without it.
