Faculty petition
January 16, 2024
Dear faculty colleagues:
Over the past few years, faculty colleagues across campus have noticed and commented on a sharp decline in the quantitative skills of our undergraduate students. In particular, although many of our undergraduates are of the same caliber as in the past, there has been a concerning drop in preparedness at the low end of the distribution. This decline has worsened with recent changes in our admissions practices, and is particularly acute for the current sophomore class. An inordinate number of students are failing courses, honor code violations are on the rise, and requests for tutors and extensions have substantially increased. Some faculty report having to adjust grading practices, as well as course content, to the change in student population.
We fear that this decline will have disastrous consequences for our students’ training and career outcomes, for Caltech’s educational mission, and for Caltech’s reputation at large.
The goal of this letter is to initiate discussion and action on this critical and urgent matter.
Below we consider possible causes for the decline. Based on these reasons, we believe that the problem requires both immediate action as well as longer term improvement and monitoring in admissions practices.
这种话由教授说出来，已经算是很严重了
教授自己开的新课吗