In 2006–2007, the MIT Faculty Newsletter became a forum for unusually candid and sustained debate about the future of undergraduate education. Prompted by the Silbey Task Force on the Undergraduate Educational Commons (2006), Faculty deliberations culminated in 2009 with a divided outcome: reforms to the HASS component of the GIRs were approved, while changes to the SME (Science–Math–Engineering) core were not. That unresolved tension continues to shape the mandate of today’s Task Force on the Undergraduate Academic Program (TFUAP).

The discussion revealed a clash of convictions—over rigor and relevance, knowledge and skills, tradition and transformation. These are words that have not lost their force—and worth recalling here.

The question they posed remains ours.

Preserve the Canon (rigor, shared core, disciplinary depth)

“Core requirements… should impart skills and knowledge that all graduates of the Institute should have.”
— (James L. Kirtley Jr.), More Science, Not Less!

“The science requirement… no longer provides MIT students with the type of preparation in the fundamentals that they need.”
— (James L. Kirtley Jr.), More Science, Not Less!

“It allows students to graduate from MIT without any chemistry, or without any biology, surely an undesirable outcome.”
— (Caroline Ross), The Case for a Shared Freshman Knowledge Base

“Disciplines enable humans to address problems in an orderly way… the undisciplined life cannot be lived effectively.”
— (Rosalind Williams), The Challenge of Multidisciplinary Education for Undergraduates

“An MIT education should give students a deep understanding of this range.”
— (Rosalind Williams), The Challenge of Multidisciplinary Education for Undergraduates

“We are the premier technical university in the world.”
— (Robert Silbey), A Twenty-First-Century Undergraduate Education for MIT Students

“We must educate our students with a breadth of social vision as well as a depth of technical knowledge.”
— (Robert Silbey), A Twenty-First-Century Undergraduate Education for MIT Students

“A monolingual education is an incomplete education.”
— (Shigeru Miyagawa & Edward Turk), A Serious Equivocation: The Issue of Foreign Language Study

“MIT’s technical education must be regularly reevaluated to remain relevant and peerless in terms of rigor.”
— (Charles Stewart III), Overview of the Report of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Educational Commons

“Scientific literacy and technological innovation are universally recognized as essential preconditions for robust economic development.”
— (Charles Stewart III), Overview of the Report of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Educational Commons

Evolve the System (flexibility, skills, modernization within structure)

“An MIT education must kindle and sustain a passion for lifelong learning.”
— (Steven Lerman), Introduction to this Special Issue

“The education we provide our students isn’t about filling their minds with a fixed body of knowledge.”
— (Steven Lerman), Introduction to this Special Issue

“The student of 2007 is not the student of 1957.”
— (Charles Stewart III), Overview of the Report of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Educational Commons

“The explosive growth of scientific and technical knowledge… overwhelms our ability to instruct every student in all areas.”
— (Eric Grimson), Diversity in Foundational Skills and Knowledge

“Foundational courses should provide transferable skills.”
— (Eric Grimson), Diversity in Foundational Skills and Knowledge

“The skills students acquire are substantially more important to them than the knowledge from our Core.”
— (Warren Seering), The Knowledge Debate

“Students need exposure to multidisciplinary approaches… combining disciplines and experiences.”
— (Diana E. Henderson), The Journey, Not the Arrival

“What really matters is what the student takes in and from a class, and how it relates to the whole.”
— (Diana E. Henderson), The Journey, Not the Arrival

“A student lacking in such education will be at a significant disadvantage in the future.”
— (Linn W. Hobbs & Hazel L. Sive), A Global Education for MIT Students

“Roughly half of engineering graduates pursue employment outside of engineering.”
— (Daniel Frey), The Importance of Freshman-Year Projects

“Engineering… was not sufficiently visible… in the first three years.”
— (Daniel Frey), The Importance of Freshman-Year Projects

Reimagine the System (experiential learning, student-centered redesign, critique of structure)

“Hands-on learning is a cornerstone of an MIT education.”
— (Adèle N. Santos & Diane E. Davis), Educating Leaders for a Complex World

“Our students are ‘doers’ and problem-solvers who relish the pragmatic challenge of tackling large, complex problems.”
— (Adèle N. Santos & Diane E. Davis), Educating Leaders for a Complex World

“Project-based subjects can attract and excite students.”
— (Edward F. Crawley & Diane H. Soderholm), Stakeholder Expectations of Learning in First-year Project-based Subjects

“Creativity… learning that there is not only one answer.”
— (Edward F. Crawley & Diane H. Soderholm), Stakeholder Expectations of Learning in First-year Project-based Subjects

“A ‘C’ student in a lecture course can be an ‘A’ student in one of these courses.”
— (Edward F. Crawley & Diane H. Soderholm), Stakeholder Expectations of Learning in First-year Project-based Subjects

“Students come in different sizes, students grow to different sizes.”
— (Shankar Raman), Welcome to the Machine

“The first year… rests firmly on a one-size-fits-all model aimed… at producing homogeneity.”
— (Shankar Raman), Welcome to the Machine

“We need to free them… to ‘learn by doing’ the consequences of their own decisions.”
— (Shankar Raman), Welcome to the Machine

“The proposal… puts the cart before the horse.”
— (Sally Haslanger & David Pesetsky), “Big Ideas” and the High School Asymmetry

“Mediocre instruction is perhaps the leading cause of disengagement.”
— (Hughes et al.), Kindling the Fire: Student Perspectives on the Task Force Recommendations

“Students need alternatives: more… collaborative and creative projects.”
— (Hughes et al.), Kindling the Fire: Student Perspectives on the Task Force Recommendations

“Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.”
— (Hughes et al.), Kindling the Fire: Student Perspectives on the Task Force Recommendations

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