The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate on Feb. 21 passed a resolution calling for a change in the course credit system in order to award an extra half credit for labs that exceed two-and-a-half hours in science courses; the resolution refers specifically to biology classes, as physics and chemistry lab sections are shorter. The student sentiment that generated this resolution is indicative of the greater issue surrounding the way that course credits are assigned at Tufts. The administration should reconsider its "one course, one credit" policy in light of the different time commitments and workloads associated with different courses.
Sophomore Kate de Klerk, associate treasurer of the TCU Senate, drafted the resolution with the aim that students would receive credit for the hours of extra work they put into preparing for and attending lab each week, as students in science classes write lab reports and study for quizzes in their lab courses. However, Associate Professor of Biology Juliet Fuhrman, the chair of the biology department, argues that the extra work students put into lab work is comparable to the extra time students in humanities courses put into a research project or a long final paper.
It is true that there are certain courses in both the sciences and the humanities at Tufts that require greater time commitment and work than others. With the one exception of organic chemistry, which does give an additional half credit for the lab section, all courses at Tufts are awarded only one or one-half of a credit. Should an introductory-level survey class that meets once a week receive the same number of credits as a science class with a three hour lab, or a high-demand seminar course with capstone projects? This system of "one class, one credit" does not appropriately reward the work that students put into their courses.
The 5.5 credit limit per semester is meant to maintain a reasonable workload for students. However, 5.5 credits can mean a widely different workload depending on which classes a student is taking. A revision of course credit assignment based on hours and workloads would open up students' schedules and allow them to effectively balance their course loads each semester.
Most of Tufts' peer institutions allocate credits based on the hours or level of the course. There are issues with the "one course, one credit" policy, but the system must be revised in a university-wide review, not one resolution at a time. Organic chemistry is already the exception to the rule, and making specific exceptions for biology classes with lengthy labs will not solve the larger problem, as it does not address the extra workload of upper-level research, high-demand and seminar courses.
There are students in all departments taking extremely rigorous courses with heavy workloads, and they all only receive one credit. Biology students should not be the only ones to receive recognition for their extra time commitment for a course.
The Senate's resolution to give biology lab sections an additional half credit would only create another exception to an unfair rule. The university administration should reconsider the "one course, one credit" policy in order to better reflect the varying time commitments and workloads involved in different courses throughout multiple departments.
