New Harvard Publication Will Reporton Committees

Occasional Reports, a new University publication as of December 16, is Dean Ernest R. May's latest attempt to bridge the student-administration communication gap. "Students ought to have better ways of finding out where to start the painful process of getting something done," Dean May said in the letter accompanying the Reports.

The increase of committees and their role in the decision-making process of the University during the past two years has left many students confused. The purpose of the Reports is to provide permanent information about the nature of the committees, their members, when they meet and how they can be contacted, according to May.

Not News

Reports is not news and will not be published regularly but will serve rather to keep students posted on the progress of the various committees. "Perhaps Reports of this type," Dean May suggested, "can stay on file in Common Rooms and House Offices."

Reports will also try to keep the Harvard community up to date on business concerning curriculum review, the scholarship budget and the state of Harvard-Radcliffe relations. "Occasional Reports may give students some sense of the state of play on matters that don't manage to make the headlines," Dean May said.

The first edition of Reports talks about the five current-Faculty-Administration committees: the committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE), the Committee on Graduate Education (CGE), the Committee on Student and Community Relations (CSCR), the Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life (CHUL) and the Committee on Rights and Responsibilities (CRR).

Dean May traces the history of the committees and gives a capsule analysis of the results of each one. The names and addresses of all committee members are listed according to committee at the back of the Reports.

Future Reports will include a separate review of the CRR and its stormy activities. According to Dean May, the changes the University has experienced since the election of students to committees has been as significant as that of the nineteenth century when the Corporation first delegated major powers to Deans and Faculties.