Annual Report Excerpts

"The prospect of new leadership offers a timely chance to reflect on what we have accomplished and what must still be done to build a first-rate professional school for government service."

"In short, as careers in government have grown less attractive, the paths to success in public life have become more diverse and uncertain. There is no indication that these trends will soon be reversed."

"How far has the School progressed in carrying out its strategy? In particular, how well has the faculty succeeded in attracting the kinds of students it seeks and in offering them a useful preparation for public service? Quite well, we will discover, especially if one makes due allowance for the difficult of the task."

"In less than twenty years, the faculty has mounted an ambitious series of programs that have attracted more impressive students, reached out to more levels of government, and earned more appreciation from established practitioners than any sensible observer could have predicted when the effort began. One can also observe an energy and enthusiasm in the faculty and staff that reflect their strong commitment to an enterprise they consider important and worthwhile. All in all, therefore, if one compares what has been achieved with the progress of other professional schools at Harvard at comparable stages in their development, the record thus far is truly remarkable."

"That a school has successfully mounted a series of programs, or even that its courses find favor with experienced practitioners does not mean that its faculty has yet devised an ideal way to prepare students for responsible jobs in their profession. No curriculum ever achieves this aim in full--education is too imperfect a process for that--and many faculties are further from the goal than their presidents would like to admit. But it is particularly unlikely that a young professional school embarked on an ambitious new strategy will manage in two decades to build a truly satisfactory curriculum. For this is a process that can only take place through a gradual accumulation of knowledge and experimentation extending over a long period of time."

"No one would pretend that the School's curriculum yet conveys nearly all that public servants need to know, nor even all that they might possibly be taught about the arts and skills of policy making and administration."

"The preparation required depends on what we would ideally like our public officials to be. Certainly, we want them to be skillful in identifying problems, evaluating alternative solutions and carrying out appropriate policies effectively and efficiently. But most of us want more than that. We want our government leaders and executives to have a wisdom and a humane perspective far beyond techincal skill."

"Examining the record of the Kennedy School, one sees great progress in teaching the skills of policy analysis and public management in ways that are interesting and useful to students. This has been the challenge of the first twenty years, and even though much must still be done, all the signs suggest that the faculty has succeeded impressively. The Principal challenge in the period ahead will be to add those forms of education that will help government officials move beyond being mere bureaucrats and technicians to become the kinds of human beings to whom we would willingly entrust decisions that affect our lives."

"Because the needs are so urgent, one must assume that the nation will eventually do what is required to create a quality of government equal to the challenges we face. At some point, we will have to raise the salaries of public servants, intensify our efforts to recruit good people to government, increase the opportunities for able civil servants to advance, and provide them the education and training they need to perform their responsibilities with distinction. Only when that time comes will universities be able to make their full contribution to the quality of government in America. It will be to Harvard's credit if the Kennedy School can play an important part in helping to show the way."