Dear Students,

As most of you know, the Faculty last year legislated two important curricular changes that resulted from the Harvard College Curricular Review: the creation of secondary fields, and the delay in the timing of concentration choice. Both of these initiatives go into effect this year.

Secondary fields were established to provide the opportunity for focused coursework in one area outside the field of concentration. A list of approved programs and their requirements is available at www.secondaryfields.fas.harvard.edu. New programs will be added to the list throughout the spring term; however, only those listed by the end of spring shopping period will be available to June 07 graduates. An on-line tool that will allow students to inform programs of their interest and to keep track of their own requirements is under development and will be available in March. While the secondary field program is an exciting innovation, students and their advisers should remember that secondary fields are entirely optional and are not the best choice for all undergraduates. Students should consider on balance whether or not pursuing a secondary field will be truly advantageous, intellectually and educationally. We hope that the option of a secondary field will offer students with an intellectual interest in two subjects the opportunity to pursue both. Secondary fields should not be pursued merely to add another credential to the resume. In every case it will mean a reduction in the number of exploratory electives a student can take in their eight semesters at Harvard. In some cases, it will prevent opportunities for research or advanced work in one field in favor of more introductory courses in another.

The change of the timing of concentration choice goes into effect for this years freshman class. The class of 2010 will declare their concentration late in the third term, in early December of 2007. Our hope is that students will use this extra semester to consider the curriculum and their concentration choice thoroughly. To be sure that they get adequate pre-concentration advice, all freshmen must have a documented advising conversation in the spring of their first year. To facilitate these conversations, we will have an Advising Fortnight from Monday, April 9 through Sunday, April 22. The Fortnight will be a time for freshmen to learn more about concentrations and their requirements. The Advising Programs Office will provide a full schedule of the events that concentrations are planning to help guide freshmen as they explore the numerous concentrations within the College. An on-line tool is also being developed to help students keep track of their advising conversations.

Information about other Harvard College Curricular Review initiatives can be found at: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/curriculum-review/.

Sincerely,

Benedict H. Gross Leverett Professor of Mathematics Dean of Harvard College