Involve the Teaching Faculty

We can say one thing for the faculty-administration commission's recent Report on the Structure of Harvard College--we've heard most of it before. Still, we agree with the main thrust of the report: Teaching faculty should become more involved in college life.

It's doubtful that so many faculty actually desire administrative experience, as the report suggests. With the pressure of high-flying careers in research, Harvard faculty--as we know all too well--find it hard enough to make time for teaching. Professors might enjoy debating sexual assault, plagiarism or alcohol possession at Administrative Board meetings, but would they really volunteer for the job?

Despite these possible problems, we would welcome the integration of more faculty members into the cogs of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges' machine. Many of Harvard's house masters and co-masters have shown that teaching can, and should, go hand in hand with extensive interaction with students. As the report recommends, senior tutors and deans should be as linked to teaching as they are to administration.

Seeing students in class every few days is a great way to bring administrators down to earth. Students can respect them as scholars, and they can see students as more than masses to be controlled. We would heartily endorse the replacement of outgoing Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 with a member of the teaching faculty who might bring an extra level of understanding to the job.

Other items in the report run along the same lines as many of our past editorials. With particular gusto, we applaud the commission's suggestion that the ever-nebulous role of the Undergraduate Council be examined by a committee of students and faculty.

We also approve of the proposed formation of an umbrella committee to oversee involvement in public service; perhaps an organized body will make it easier for students and faculty to participate in the community.

Essentially, we disagree with the substance of the report on only one issue: the ill-advised call for randomizing students' house selection process. Such a move for the sake of "diversity" would effectively ignore students' legitimate desire to have some say in where they will live for three years.

The report's most serious flaw, however, appears to be the lack of a plan for implementation. Influence exerted by President Neil L. Rudenstine or by department heads on existing search committees (looking for deans, tutors or masters) could be the main engine in pulling more faculty into the fray of college life.

Given the exceedingly general and over-arching objectives expressed in the report, the appointment of another, autonomous committee seems inappropriate. Harvard could bring professors into all of its top administrative positions within 20 years, as long as everyone takes the report to heart.