Academic life at Georgetown may change significantly in coming years if administrators adopt a new curriculum structure currently under consideration.

The 4-4 Curriculum Plan, as it is commonly known, calls for a reduction in the typical class load from five classes per semester to four, possibly worth four credits apiece instead of three.

Presently, the plan lacks specifics and is in the early stages of discussion.

“We are in the phase of gathering material so we can have a portfolio for discussion,” said university provost Dorothy Brown. “We’d like to invite a faculty member or a dean from another institution [to speak], and we need to meet with a council of deans and the academic council.”

Brown said the plan, which has been a recommendation discussed since 1986, was submitted to the heads of five departments to see how its implementation would affect their current major and minor requirements and curriculum.

So far, two departments have returned results. The philosophy department supported the change, and the German department opposed the change.

“We were asked to model a 4-4 curriculum,” said Wayne Davis, chair of the philosophy department. The philosophy department’s study found that shifting to a 4-4 plan with four credits awarded per course would work beneficially within their department.

According to the study, shifting to a 4-4 curriculum would allow for smaller class sizes, especially at the introductory level, without the hiring of additional faculty or increased workload for professors.

“It would mean the difference between 30 and 60 students in an introductory class,” Davis said. “If you take what’s important – discussion, time, contact with the professor – that would either be equal or greater under a 4-4 curriculum. We would also be able to attract more distinguished scholars because they would have more time for research.”

The German department also looked at “the impact of making a change to Georgetown education in the eyes of students and our own eyes,” said chair Peter Pfeiffer. “We decided it was a very bad idea.”

“The most important part of a Georgetown education is a liberal arts education,” Pfeiffer said. “We are grounded in that tradition, and it’s a current priority, as well as a desirable priority.”

According to Pfeiffer, 68 percent of alumni view a broad liberal arts education as desirable, which to him means it should be strengthened. Under a 4-4 system, Pfeiffer said, the number of required courses would be reduced from between 38 and 40, to 32, which might lead to greater pre-professionalism.

“The plan would make it difficult to double major, minor or pursue interdisciplinary studies,” Pfeiffer said.

GUSA plans to attempt to educate the student body about this potential change, according to junior representative Aaron Kass (COL ’02).

“GUSA is not taking a stance as of now. There’s not enough information. My number one goal right now is to disseminate information to the student body,” Kass said.

According to Kass, the university and GUSA will tap students’ opinions later this semester with 4-4 curriculum plan questions on the Access+ student survey.

“GUSA will also go to the curriculum committee and see how it would look from their angle,” Kass said.

Kass and Paul Chen (SFS ’02), a member of the Main Campus Academic Committee, authored point-counterpoint essays on the curriculum modification, which are published on the GUSA Web site.

“Paul and I weren’t trying to convince anyone,” Kass said. “Since we don’t know what the plan will actually look like, it’s hard to form a strong opinion. We just want people to have heard about this, so it’s not suddenly sprung on them.”

“The discussion surrounding the 4-4 plan may be of greater importance than the actual plan, because it raises the prominence of academic issues that have, up to now, not been addressed in a coordinated fashion among students, faculty and administration,” Chen said.

The change in academic structure would allow students to spend more time concentrating on each class, through more time physically spent the classroom and increased workload. This would allow students to penetrate deeper into subject matter and hone analytical skills, according to the plan’s proponents.

According to the philosophy department study, most of Georgetown’s competitor schools in the Ivy League and other Consortium of Financing Higher Education schools, use a 4-4 curriculum system.