Activities Letter to Be Mailed Out This Week

The Faculty Council will send its long-awaited letter on activity reporting to department chairs this week--months after the Corporation originally commissioned the body to take action.

That delay, and the extreme care taken with the letter's wording, was due in part to concerns that faculty members might feel threatened by the Corporation's request, according to Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences John E. Dowling '57.

"Any time you start asking people to describe their actions...it sounds as though you're almost accusing them of doing something wrong," said Dowling, who chaired the council subcommittee charged with drafting a letter about faculty activities.

The letter to go out this week requests that faculty members standardize procedures for reporting teaching, research, citizenship and public service. Last spring the Corporationasked the faculty to develop set guidelines forreporting outside activities.

Dowling said faculty members may also feeldefensive because of unfair accusations in thepress that Harvard professors care less aboutteaching than about outside work.

When hired, he said, faculty members are toldthat they are expected to divide their timeequally between teaching and research.

"Most of us spend much more time doing teachingthan we do doing research," he said.

The Corporation's request focused only onfaculty members' extra-campus activities, saidAnne Harrington, a member of the subcommittee andassistant professor of the History of Science.

At one point, the council considered sendingdepartment chairs two sample reports asguidelines. One would strictly follow theCorporation's request, listing only activitiesoutside of campus. The other would have included amuch more detailed list of faculty activities.

But the council's final decision. Dowling said,lies between those two extremes. A minimalresponse probably would not really reflect therange of activities in which faculty membersparticipate, he said.

The council also debated the distinctionbetween teaching and research, which Dowling saidis often not as straightforward as it appears. Forexample, he said, science professors who supervisestudents in the laboratory are engaging in bothteaching and research.

A mechanism for reporting faculty activities isalready in place in the form of department chairs'annual reports, Harrington said. The systemsuggested in the letter, she said, goes beyond theCorporation's request.

Already in Compliance

"In essence we're already doing what theCorporation is asking us to do," she said.

The council will ask department chairs to tryto discuss the changes with their departments soonenough to include them in this year's reports tothe Dean, Harrington said

Dowling said faculty members may also feeldefensive because of unfair accusations in thepress that Harvard professors care less aboutteaching than about outside work.

When hired, he said, faculty members are toldthat they are expected to divide their timeequally between teaching and research.

"Most of us spend much more time doing teachingthan we do doing research," he said.

The Corporation's request focused only onfaculty members' extra-campus activities, saidAnne Harrington, a member of the subcommittee andassistant professor of the History of Science.

At one point, the council considered sendingdepartment chairs two sample reports asguidelines. One would strictly follow theCorporation's request, listing only activitiesoutside of campus. The other would have included amuch more detailed list of faculty activities.

But the council's final decision. Dowling said,lies between those two extremes. A minimalresponse probably would not really reflect therange of activities in which faculty membersparticipate, he said.

The council also debated the distinctionbetween teaching and research, which Dowling saidis often not as straightforward as it appears. Forexample, he said, science professors who supervisestudents in the laboratory are engaging in bothteaching and research.

A mechanism for reporting faculty activities isalready in place in the form of department chairs'annual reports, Harrington said. The systemsuggested in the letter, she said, goes beyond theCorporation's request.

Already in Compliance

"In essence we're already doing what theCorporation is asking us to do," she said.

The council will ask department chairs to tryto discuss the changes with their departments soonenough to include them in this year's reports tothe Dean, Harrington said