Student taught course program at Rice is cutting-edge

By Staff Editorial     4/14/11 7:00pm

Student-Student-taught courses have become quite popular at Rice, and we're not alone in our affinity for them (See story, pg. 1). An interest in student-taught courses is sweeping across the country with Rice at the very forefront of the movement.

This past weekend two Rice students hosted a conference about student-taught courses which was attended by a national audience. Student-taught courses provide students the unique opportunity to cultivate a personal passion and share it with their peers. This program is beneficial to a great portion of the student body and gives students a way to refocus their education on learning instead of making the grades.

Granted the recent national growth in student-taught courses, in addition to our own past success with them, it is regrettable that Rice would consider cutting funding to this program. Student-taught courses are already a well-ingrained tradition in Rice culture, whereas other colleges are just now trying to incorporate the program in their curriculums. We are a pioneer in this field and we should seek to stay ahead instead of falling behind. ALFA recommendations included a budget for student-taught courses and the Thresher challenges the administration to match this allocation.

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The Thresher hopes that the recent convention serves as a wake-up call for the administration: Student-taught courses are not to be neglected. While Rice is at the cutting edge of this national movement, it is imperative that we ensure our student-taught courses program has the resources it needs to thrive if we mean to stay there.

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