A letter from Dean Hastings

[Ruth Miller]

Dear Undergraduates,

A Task Force of MIT faculty and students has spent the past 2 1/2 years
considering changes in the General Institute Requirements for  
undergraduates.

Our primary purpose is to help you as you develop your own intellectual
identity.  We know that many of you have valuable opinions and as we  
prepare to
consider their recommendations, we need to hear from you.

The Task Force recommendations, along with the previous Task Force on  
Student
Life and Learning, are designed to position MIT to set the standard  
for the
type of education at which we excel, through 2025. The report can be  
found at
http://web.mit.edu/committees/edcommons/.

Please take a look, then communicate your thoughts. In the upcoming  
weeks, once
everyone has had time to digest the document, the Student Advisory  
Committee to
the Task Force will be conducting surveys and town hall meetings to  
collect
student response to the report. Your feedback will help steer the
implementation of these recommendations. You  may communicate your  
feedback
through the Student Advisory Committee to the Task Force or the UA  
Student
Committee on Educational Policy or by contacting the office of the  
Dean for
Undergraduate Education (DUE) directly. You may send me emails at
hastings at mit.edu.

The Student Advisory Committee to the Task Force is also seeking new  
members who
are interested in gathering and formalizing student feedback in a  
written
report.  They will be having a meeting this Sunday, October 15th, at  
4 p.m. in
W20-400.  All students who are interested in joining the committee  
should plan
on attending.  If you cannot attend the meeting but would still like  
to be
involved, please send an email to edcomm-sac at mit.edu.

Open inquiry is at the core of teaching and learning. As MIT works to  
enroll,
educate and inspire some of the world's brightest students with a  
passion for
learning and sense of self, we welcome your inquiries and want to  
hear from
you.

With best wishes,

Daniel Hastings
Dean for Undergraduate Education

======================================================
Daniel Hastings
Dean for Undergraduate Education
Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems
4-110, MIT
77 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge MA 02139
ph: 617-253-0906
fx: 617-258-5288
http://web.mit.edu/due/