When the policy is implemented Binghamton will conform to SUNY guidelines that have been in effect since 1977. Harpur has taken several steps since 1993 to meet SUNY guidelines after a survey showed that 70 percent of the graduates were not meeting the requirements. In spite of these changes, however, surveys in both 1999 and 2000 showed that 50 percent of the graduates were not meeting the guidelines. Of those not meeting the guideline, about 9 percent were double or triple majors. The survey noted that the shortfall is most acute for students receiving bachelor of arts degrees, where about half do not meet the requirement.
Most Harpur students receiving bachelor of science degrees meet the requirement.
Compliance with the guidelines also has a financial reward said Jean Pierre Mileur, Harpur dean, who explained that state aid is weighted in favor of upper-level courses. Proposals, writing contest entries accepted for Gardner conference Proposals and abstracts are now being accepted for the Fourth Annual John Gardner Conference to be held on campus Saturday, March 31. The conference is sponsored by the John Gardner Society's Midatlantic branch. Gardner had been a professor of creative writing at Binghamton until his death in a motorcycle accident in September 1992. The main focus of the conference is Gardner's interest in the supernatural, as seen in such works as Mickelsson's Ghosts and The King's Indian.