CEP APPROVES 148

Social Relations 148 officially cleared its final hurdle yesterday when the Committee on Educational Policy decided not to reconsider its earlier approval of the course.

The CEP reached its decision after Roger W. Brown, chairman of the Soc Rel Department and professor of Social Psychology, outlined the thinking behind last week's departmental approval of the course.

Dean Ford said after the meeting that undergraduates could teach sections of 148 under existing Corporation regulations. Only those who have "instructional responsibility" for a course are required to hold Corporation appointments--teaching fellow or higher.

The CEP, Ford said, decided in this case to interpret "instructional responsibility" to mean "grading." And only graduate students--not the undergraduate sectionmen--will be responsible for grading. This was also the Department's decision.

Ford emphasized that 148 is considered a "valuable experiment" but not a precedent for other courses with similar administration.

The Committee had reservations about the course's "encouraging certain political points of view," Ford said. But it felt that Harvard students could handle a lot of inculcation, he said.

Yesterday's meeting was the second time the CEP discussed 148. The Dean's office approved it over the summer, and the Committee reviewed it two weeks ago. Brown requested yesterday's discussion because the course personnel and structure had changed since the CEP's first meeting.