Over the last few months, University officials, faculty members and students have visited seven universities on the East Coast to examine other schools’ use of the four-class, four-credit system, and to gauge the possibility of switching student course loads at GW.
Donald Lehman, vice president of Academic Affairs, said the task force could make a decision on the use of a four-by-four system at GW as early as March.
Members of the task force charged with researching the four-by-four system visited schools in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and North Carolina. The task force sent four teams of researchers to speak with administrators, faculty members and students at each school, said Craig Linebaugh, associate vice president for Academic Planning.
Task force members visited Boston’s Northeastern University, Boston University and Tufts University. One team spent the day at New York University, while another team visited the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore College in Philadelphia. Two weeks ago task force members traveled to Durham, N.C., to visit Duke University.
GW began looking into the four-by-four system three years ago. Proponents of the plan argue that students would benefit from more focused study, and that additional classroom space would be made available. Those against the plan claim that it would limit electives and require many changes across different disciplines.
-Marissa Levy
