Final report and next steps: Task Force on the Undergraduate Academic Program

Dear members of the MIT community,

We write to share the final report of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Academic Program (TFUAP) and to outline next steps for community input, as the faculty consider and eventually vote on its proposals.

The TFUAP process so far

In response to Task Force 2021 and Beyond’s recommendation on the undergraduate program (RIC1), TFUAP was launched in February 2024, under the leadership of co-chairs Professors Adam Martin and Joel Voldman. After extensive consultation across the community, in February 2026, TFUAP shared its initial findings and proposed changes. After further town halls and other community input, TFUAP has now submitted its final report. The task force has also prepared an FAQ, which will be continually updated.

What happens now?

The TFUAP report contains detailed recommendations touching on all aspects of the undergraduate program. As the next step, we are creating and will co-chair a new steering group with the following initial membership:

• Roger Levy, Chair of the Faculty
• David Darmofal, Vice Chancellor for Graduate and Undergraduate Education
• Chairs of curricular teams (see below)
• Adam Martin, TFUAP co-chair
• Joel Voldman, TFUAP co-chair
• Tami Kaplan, Faculty Governance Administrator
• Kate Weishaar, Staff, Division of Graduate and Undergraduate Education
• Two undergraduate students, to be identified in consultation with the Undergraduate Association
• One undergraduate administrator

The steering group will lead elaboration and further refinement of the TFUAP recommendations, with the goal of bringing motions for faculty vote in the 2026–27 academic year. We welcome community input to continually inform this process; you can contact the steering group at tfuap-steering@mit.edu.

As part of its work, the steering group will create and coordinate the work of a number of teams focused on key curricular aspects of the TFUAP recommendations, including:

• Math (to consider calculus and linear algebra)
• Physics
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Computing
• Probability, statistics, and machine learning (PSM)
• Teamwork-intensive (TI)
• Moral and civic perspectives (MCP)

The teams will include members from potential offering departments as well as from departments with programs that depend strongly on the topics. Teams’ work will include:

• Developing learning objectives that any proposed subject for that topic would need to meet; 
• Drafting syllabi (including number of units) for one or more subjects that would satisfy the learning objectives. 

In a separate email to department heads, we will solicit interest in serving on these teams. Throughout, the steering group will maintain close communication with the relevant Standing and Special Committees of the Faculty.

We close by expressing deep gratitude to all the members of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Academic Program for the care, attention, and thoughtfulness they brought to this vital work. Through hundreds of meetings and thousands of hours of debate and consultation, the task force members built a deep reservoir of shared knowledge and expertise, reflected throughout the final recommendations. 

It’s now up to the MIT community broadly, particularly the faculty, to study this foundational work and build on it, so that together we can create an undergraduate program that will serve MIT for many years to come. As we embark upon this next crucial phase, we look forward to strong engagement throughout the MIT community.

Sincerely,

Roger Levy
Chair of the MIT Faculty
Professor, Brain and Cognitive Sciences

David L. Darmofal
Vice Chancellor for Graduate and Undergraduate Education
Jerome B. Wiesner Professor, Aeronautics and Astronautics

Membership of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Academic Program

Adam Martin, Co-Chair; Salvador E. Luria Professor, Department of Biology

Joel Voldman, Co-Chair; William R. Brody (1965) Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Esther Duflo, Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics

Jeffrey Grossman, Morton and Claire Goulder and Family Professor in Environmental Systems, Department of Materials Science

Isaac Lock ’25, Course 20 and Course 24-1

Robert Miller, Distinguished Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

William Minicozzi, Singer Professor, Department of Mathematics; Chair, Committee on the Undergraduate Program

Caitlin Ogoe ’25, Course 6-9

Janet Rankin, Director, Teaching and Learning Lab

Skylar Tibbits, Morningside Academy for Design Professor, Department of Architecture

Lily Tsai, Ford Professor of Political Science

Maria Yang, William E. Leonhard (1940) Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Karen Zheng, George M. Bunker Professor of Management

Kate Weishaar, Staff, Division of Graduate and Undergraduate Education