They’re all ears …

The auditing of Princeton University courses attracts intellectually active members of the community.

By: Pat Summers
   In a way, it’s a shame the registration line for Princeton University’s Community Auditing Program (CAP) will soon be replaced by an online system. All by itself, before classes even begin, that living line is so stimulating and educational.
   All sorts of interesting people prove able to get up and out and into line earlier than might usually be their wont. Just being there demonstrates their motivation and planning skills, and their social skills invariably come to the fore if the line is long enough.
   For all we know, lifetime friendships have been forged during the last half-dozen years or so of the CAP lines before fall and spring semesters began. Certainly, area coffee houses have noticed a business upsurge on registration mornings, as have parking facilities, and quite possibly purveyors of portable benches and seats as well.
   That more than 650 people — from Princeton and a broader area encompassing North Jersey and Pennsylvania — last fall paid $100 to sit in on university course lectures on a noncredit basis is no longer a surprise. It’s a regular happening.
   Early on Monday, Jan. 10, the line was barely out the door of Alexander Hall, and most would-be auditors were already inside, moving around the building’s perimeter toward completion of the process — a painless one, unless the cut-off number for auditors in a given course had already been reached.
   One woman walked away from campus carrying the fold-up seat she hadn’t even needed. Registration had started earlier than the publicized 8 a.m. and she got into the course she wanted.
   Waiting in line, a Princeton grad from years ago was hoping for the art history course he remembered from back then as a highlight. Among a few just-registered friends, he pointed out a university trustee who had waited his turn in line.
   A retired prof from a neighboring university waited, too, apparently ready to enjoy the world from the other side of the lectern. With a placid black guide dog at her side, an animated woman talked with those around her.
   Overall, the mood was mellow, with pleasant staff, regular updating of information about course numbers, and pastries and hot beverages on hand. A few tables with enthusiastic representatives of campus activities, offered handouts (and a feeling of belonging).
   These days, it’s easy for nonmatriculated area residents to audit undergraduate course lectures at Princeton University. The ground rules, procedures and fees are all clearly spelled out, and for $100 a course, "Every Auditor" can come on campus and learn.
   Today’s community auditing program includes access to parking and a shuttle to campus, as well as an end-of-term reception and lecture. (In December 2004, retiring professor James Mc Pherson spoke to a full house about his specialty, the Civil War.)
   It was not always so. Some years ago, remembers Pam Hersh, the university’s director of community and state affairs, unofficial auditing was out of control. With no existing structure for registering, limiting or controlling class attendees, "auditors" took over.
   Their incursions were abetted by retirement communities in the area whose publicity said, in effect, "Come live here and take classes at Princeton University!" The buses rolled toward campus.
   Tuition-paying Princeton students were known to have to sit on the floor, and parents and students alike complained about lack of quality time with professors. Liability issues cropped up: When people weren’t officially affiliated with the university, they couldn’t be covered by its insurance.
   It got so bad, Ms. Hersh says, that there was talk of scrapping everything.
   One thing saved it for auditors: the belief that "the ultimate community service would be to share the university’s extraordinary intellectual resources," Ms. Hersh says, adding the truism that, despite the range of other adult education venues around here, "People love coming on campus."
   One of the prime movers behind what some six years ago became CAP, Ms. Hersh can speak with some complacency about the going concern it has become. It’s self-supporting, with a mailing list of more than 2,000 names, and there’s even a CAP council, composed of volunteer helpers.
   The typical CAP participant is more likely to be retired than still working, although auditors include spouses of grad students, foreign au pairs and younger students who may move into the Program in Continuing Education. CAP is open to everyone, not to seniors only, Ms. Hersh emphasizes.
   Two staff members in the community and state affairs office are the CAP specialists, according to Ms. Hersh: Susan Weinkopff and Blanche Scioli. Between them, they handle everything from compilation of the lecture list auditors may select from to phone calls and e-mails to the occasional troublesome auditor. (The latter’s worst sin may be an inability, or unwillingness, to sit quietly in class — a key rule of the program.)
   The numbers of auditors permitted in any course can’t exceed 10 percent of the total number of undergrads enrolled in it. This rule aims to "maintain a classroom environment conducive to undergraduate study," the CAP handbook explains. But the room where a course is taught can also affect the auditor number: Seminar rooms, which are small by definition, may not have space for everyone otherwise eligible.
   Yes, there are some "no"s with CAP. Being an auditor does not include access to Firestone Library, which still requires a fee. Nor does CAP participation result in certification of any kind. But the program does include the option of requesting another course if the chosen one is filled. If openings occur, prospective auditors receive welcome phone calls.
   Limited to attendance at lectures only, and not precepts, seminars or labs, CAP participants are asked to introduce themselves to professors and to sit in the back rows of classrooms or lecture halls. They’re also expected to be quiet during lectures and wait to buy books locally until after the second week of classes.
   There’s no doubt CAP online registration will happen and will work well. It’s the way to go these days; it’s progress. Before long, those who could "only stand and wait" will be able to eat breakfast at home. They may miss the camaraderie of the line, but they’ll always have the lectures.
Princeton University’s CAP office, Suite 101, 22 Chambers St., Princeton. Phone: (609) 258-0202. E-mail: [email protected]. On the Web: www.princeton.edu/sites/pucsa/auditing.htm