Undergraduate deans vote to require faculty OK to obtain old exams

The deans of the University's four undergraduate schools voted unanimously yesterday to require that faculty permission be granted before students can obtain copies of old exams. At yesterday's meeting of the Council of Undergraduate Deans, they enacted a plan much like one which was proposed by College of Arts and Sciences Dean Matthew Santirocco earlier this month. The College, the Wharton School, the School of Nursing and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences will require their respective faculty members to inform the Tutoring Center whether they want their exams on file or not. Then, students will not have to approach their professors, individually, to obtain copies of old exams, Santirocco said. "I firmly support the faculty, but at the same time I have heard, loud and clear, the legitimate concerns of the students," Santirocco said. "For that reason, I'm going to put in place a speedy procedure that removes the burden of obtaining exams from the students." Santirocco said he believes that by requiring the faculty to deal with the Tutoring Center on a one-to-one basis, a firm relationship will be created between the two. Engineering Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education John Keenan, Nursing Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Mary Naylor and Santirocco will be mailing individual letters to their faculty members within the next week outlining the procedure. These letters, they said, will encourage the faculty to offer their exams to the Tutoring Center. If some faculty members choose not to offer their exams, the deans ask that they offer sample questions and other study aides. "In the letter, if some faculty don't want to forward their exams, I will ask them to offer some sample questions to help students prepare for exams," Naylor said. "The questions will be truly indicative of the types of questions that the professors will be using on their exams, to allow students to know what they should expect to see on their tests." Another option Santirocco said he will offer the faculty is the establishment of departmental exam files, such as those which currently exist in the Chemistry and Economics Departments. In a poll conducted by the College Office, he added, many departments said they are considering establishing their own exam files. The deans will allow the faculty two weeks to decide whether or not their exams can be kept on record at the Tutoring Center, Keenan said. If the faculty do not respond within that time frame, their exams will automatically go on file at the Tutoring Center. Along with granting faculty members the right to dictate the fate of their own exams, the new policy intends to allow all students equal access to old exams, Keenan said. "It is naive [for the faculty] to think that their exams aren't in circulation," Keenan said. "The proper thing to do is to allow all students equal access to them. If some students have access and others don't, then you have an issue of inequity." Santirocco said he believes the issue of the Old Exam File will dissipate over the next couple of weeks, leaving the University community to discuss the much larger issue of assessment. "I've heard the legitimate concerns of the faculty and students, and I'm bringing up questions of how best to help students prepare," Santirocco said. He added that he hopes questions, such as "do we teach for exams or for the sake of teaching?" will be answered over the next couple of months. Wharton Vice Dean, Janice Bellace could not be reached for comment yesterday.