Education for Action Weathers Fund Crisis

Education for Action, despite months of insolvency and organizational confusion, will probably stay together to run its own program this summer.

The organization -- founded a year ago by the Radcliffe Government Association and Phillips Brooks House at the suggestion of President Bunting -- is meeting Sunday night to determine its future.

Last summer, funded by a $25,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, EFA sent students abroad for service work, and sponsored projects in this country. It has also run a non-credit seminar program during the year.

This year, however, the organization has been unable to come up with funds for its projects this summer, and the administration has become too much for its students board to handle. Two weeks ago, there was some speculation that EFA would dissolve itself as a single covering group, and hand its programs over to departments within the University.

But prospects for the organization now look brighter than they have. More than 150 students will participate in programs connected with EFA this summer, and if the board uses all the money that remains from the Ford grant, as well as $2500 from the Esso Foundation, nearly $6000 will be available to them. This is still considerably less than last year's budget, but some students will finance themselves, and others have been channeled into already existing projects that have money of their own.

It is expected that the board meeting Sunday night will not consider dissolution, but instead how to keep operating as a unit. One possibility is a plan that would give increased independence to the major facets of the program -- the service projects and the seminars -- and lessen the demands on student administrators.

Concentrate on Individual Programs

The summer projects part of EFA's work might be put under the control of the Career Planning Office, and the student board would become more of an "ideas board." It should then be able to concentrate much more on setting up the individual programs" than it has, Mrs. Bunting said last night. At this point, students wishing money either propose their own projects or join existing ones.

Revamp Seminar Program

Another major change to be considered would revamp the present seminar program -- now non-credit -- into a course for credit given by the University.

While considering this organizational change, EFA has also been negotiating with Peace Corps officials to administer an experimental Peace Corps officials to administer an experimental Peace Corps training program. No final agreement has yet been made, but the major point of the program -- if adopted -- would be to train prospective volunteers from Harvard and Radcliffe in the countries where they would eventually work. At present, Peace Corps volunteers are trained in this country.