Education: Dr. Fix-It Goes to Santa Cruz

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Faculty members at U.C.S.C. are anxiously awaiting the fruits of Moll's efforts, and have even pitched in by personally telephoning prospective students and offering to answer questions about the school. This year applications have increased. Many faculty members fear, though, that Santa Cruz's narrative evaluation system is threatened by the enrollment drive. Last year the academic senate came close to authorizing optional grading for students who desired it. Says American Politics Professor Karl Lamb: "If you have both systems, the grade, which is much easier to give, will drive out the evaluations." Adds his faculty colleage John Dizikes: "The narrative evaluation system is part of a cluster of things that help us take teaching more seriously. I believe it's a superior system."

Responds Moll: "I'm torn. I like the idea and what it means to Santa Cruz tradition, but high schoolers — and their parents — perceive it as a real liability. I'm faced with the hard fact that it doesn't seem to sell."

—By Kenneth M. Pierce Reported by William Hackman/ Santa Cruz