Bok Wants Faculty Attuned to Student's Educational Needs

President Bok said yesterday that more senior Faculty members should teach sections for their courses, and should become "closer attuned to what is really happening in undergraduate education."

In an address to the Freshman Council, Bok said "the scarcity at Harvard is not the money, but the number of professors and the time they have to teach."

Bok said that graduate teaching fellows currently provide the depth of Harvard's curriculum. He said that society places great demands on professors who are experts in their fields, but the professors must balance these demands by fulfilling their teaching obligations to the University.

"I would definitely like to see a greater senior Faculty involvement in the teaching, planning and decision-making process of sections," Bok said. He said, however, that this increased involvement would not replace the system of graduate tutors.

"You could not have the diversity of courses, amount of tutorials, or small section numbers without a heavy reliance on graduate tutors," he said.

Bok described the problem of the senior Faculty finding time to teach as being two-fold: the time that is used in personal research, and the pressure that society puts on professors by requesting their expertise.