A proposal to change the University Seminar in Humanistic Inquiries (USEM) requirement was submitted to Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe and Humanities Council Chair Marc Brettler (NEJS) on Nov. 30, claiming that the program has been "characterized by structural and staffing dysfunction" for the past five or more years. The proposal, written by Prof. Richard Lansing (ROCL), suggests that first-years have the option of taking an approved humanities course to fulfill the requirement, allowing for what he said would be more flexibility for students and faculty. Lansing did not submit the proposal with the authorization of any committee. (He is a member of the Faculty Review Committee).

"I think it is a constructive proposal that merits further discussion among the faculty," Jaffe wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

The 10-year-old USEM program seeks to provide first-year students with a small seminar environment that teaches writing and analytical skills at a university level, according to the University Studies Program Web site. About 55 USEM courses are offered each academic year.

Lansing's proposal was partially written in response to Jaffe's recommendations to eliminate or reduce the size of many programs and departments in the academy. If enacted, he said his plan would alleviate financial constraints on the arts and sciences and reformulate USEM into a better program.

Lansing said that by allowing other humanities courses to fulfill the USEM requirement, his proposal would decrease the need to hire new or temporary faculty, thereby reducing costs. He also said that some first-years might prefer more advanced courses.

In a copy of the proposal obtained by the Justice from Lansing, he wrote that the USEM program has been beset by a "chronic inadequacy of faculty resources, compromised pedagogical standards and inequity of shared responsibility by the faculty of the four schools."

In a letter to Jaffe, the Humanities Council wrote that Lansing's proposal has "both educational and economic merit, and should be the beginning of a serious conversation about the USEM requirement."

Provost Marty Krauss said that because she did not receive the letter, she could not comment on the proposal.

Lansing said that the University has never adequately funded the USEM program, requiring it to rely on temporary faculty instead of full professors, who he said should be teaching USEM courses.

Lansing attributed the difficulty in finding professors to teach USEM courses to the fact that such assignments take them away from teaching in their own departments. Giving his own teaching obligations as an example, Lansing said that he is unable to teach a course in comparative literature this semester because he is instructing a USEM course.

"If you take my department, when we are down five or six professors, we just don't have the power to offer all that we need to without harming our own program, which we have done," Lansing said. "And students know this and that's one of the reasons why they can't major in a certain area or why they have difficulty completing the requirements."

According to Lansing, there are numerous humanities courses that should fulfill the USEM requirement but do not because they are open to all students, not just first-years.

"Other courses in the humanities might also be more directed toward satisfying their interests better, and maybe then there may be some who do not like small courses," Lansing said, referring to why some first-years might choose to take a larger humanities course for their USEM requirement. "This proposal would just offer greater flexibility and more variety."

Though Jaffe did not contest Lansing's assertion that professors who teach a USEM are unavailable to teach additional courses in their departments, he said that he does not have a specific opinion about the proposal. But he said that if the University is to rethink the program, it should be "looked at from multiple angles."

Many USEM courses have 18 students, an enrollment Lansing said is too large for a seminar. He said that the University prides itself in having lower enrollments in courses for more effective learning and with a new system, it would be easier to have seminars that are "truly small."

Lansing said he has nothing against USEM and that he thinks it is a "wonderful concept." But at a University where the curriculum is in the process of being reshaped, he said one must consider priorities.

The USEM program was supposed to draw professors from many departments, Lansing said. But he said only a few professors outside the humanities offer courses for the program.

Lansing said he does not blame the problems facing USEM on Prof. Gregory Freeze (HIST) who heads the program. He said Freeze is doing a "superb job" with the limited number of professors he can find to teach courses for the program.