At the beginning of each academic year the Juniors and Seniors who have declared themselves to be Philosophy Majors elect two of their number to serve as Undergraduate Student Representatives, one from the Junior class and one from the Senior Class, and such others as may be required to serve on Departmental Committees.

Undergraduate Student Representatives 2024–2025

Junior Representative:
Noelle McDowell ’26 [email protected]

Senior Representative:
Eliot Peck ‘25  [email protected]

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee:
Joshua Yang ’25 [email protected]

Course Allocation Committee:
Aiden Benson ’26  [email protected]

Recruitment/Social Chairs:
Diane Peck ’25 [email protected]

Thomas Rosini ’25  [email protected]

Duties

The Undergraduate Student Representatives are expected to:

• attend department meetings where they act as liaisons between undergraduate students and faculty, communicating the needs of the undergraduate students to faculty members and participating in departmental decisions, including decisions about the curriculum, on behalf of the undergraduate students.

Elected Student Representatives Information

At the meeting for all majors at the beginning of fall semester, seniors and juniors separately elect students to represent them at department meetings. The runners-up for senior and junior representative normally serve as representatives to the Undergraduate Curriculum and Course Allocation committees, respectively. Majors may also wish to designate other students to organize undergraduate colloquia, news letters, social events, or the like.

The department and its committees meet Tuesdays at 3:30 PM: Students who are not free at that hour should not stand as candidates. Representatives are provided with boxes among the faculty/staff mailboxes for announcements of meetings and other communications. The department meets on average about once a month. The Undergraduate Curriculum committee meets irregularly and conducts much business by mail ballot. The Course Allocation committee meets once or twice in December or January.

A reasonable amount of secretarial assistance will be provided to elected representatives of undergraduate concentrators in connection with preparation of proposals, communication with their constituents, and so forth, including photocopying and mailing at department expense. The Tower Room of 1879 Hall normally may be reserved with the department office by the undergraduate representatives for special meetings, undergraduate colloquia, or the like (including social events, subject to university policies and state laws).

The Undergraduate Curriculum committee makes recommendations to the department concerning changes in requirements for majors and in the department’s course listings in the Undergraduate Announcement. The Course Allocation committee makes recommendations to the department concerning which of its courses will actually be offered in the following academic year. Final decisions on these and other general issues as opposed to matters pertaining to particular current students or faculty---are taken by the full department, which meets roughly once a month.

Normally undergraduate representatives may attend all department meetings. (The chair of the department reserves, but has never in recent years had occasion to exercise, the right to exclude them from certain meetings.) They may participate in discussion of all issues, and in voting on all issues with the following exceptions: They may vote on changes of rules that would apply to future majors, but not on ones that would apply to themselves; and they may not vote on requirements for graduate degrees or matters pertaining to appointments to the faculty, though they are encouraged to speak on such issues especially as they affect the teaching of undergraduates. (Students retain, but have never in recent years had occasion to exercise, the right to require the reconsideration of any action of the department pertaining to the undergraduate program, by presenting a petition signed by two-thirds of the current majors within a month of the original vote.)

Elected representatives will be the first students called upon to represent majors in other capacities, such as at open houses for prospective future majors. In years when the Adviser Council meets, a report on the undergraduate program will be written by the senior representative (in consultation with the junior representative).