Harvard Tries to Obtain $100,000 Danforth Grant

Harvard is negotiating with the Danforth Foundation for a close to $100,000-a-year grant for the improvement of undergraduate education.

Dean Rosovsky said yesterday that Harvard is very interested in obtaining the grant, and that Harvard's application for it, written by the Office of Instructional Research and Evaluation, was aimed at improving the quality of undergraduate education.

Enhance Teaching

Peter S. McKinney, administrative dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, said yesterday the proposal would also deal with ways to "enhance the teaching experience" of graduate students.

The foundation has come to no decision yet about accepting Harvard's proposal, Warren B. Martin, vice president of the Danforth Foundation, said yesterday.

Martin will visit Harvard later this week, Rosovsky said, to discuss the foundation's plans.

In addition to Harvard, the foundation has received a proposal from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Negotiations between the foundation and Tufts University and Boston University have also taken place; Warren said, but these were "not on as formal a level as those with Harvard and MIT."

Irwin A. Sizer, dean of MIT's graduate school, said that MIT's proposal dealt with ways of "improving the teaching techniques of the teaching staff." He said he expected a decision from Danforth by the first of the year.

The foundation intends to make four or five grants to institutions across the country. Empire State College, part of the State University of New York, is the only school so far which has been awarded a grant as part of the new program.

Empire State

Empire State received the award, Warren said, because the school has been a "pioneer" in developing educational techniques in co-operation with labor unions and industrial concerns.

Martin said the foundation is also considering programs that deal with improving the efficiency of faculty sabbaticals, helping middle-aged academics move into other job areas, and inventing new approaches to education for senior citizens, racial minorities and other "unconventional students."

The foundation grants, Martin said, can be used to finance new programs or enhance existing ones. In the latter case, he said, the grants could be used as part of a school's operating expense budget. Rosovsky said Harvard's proposal was "of this type."

The foundation hopes to begin the program with "start-up grants" of $40,000-$50,000 in the second half of the academic year, Martin said.