Radcliffe Takes A Step Forward

Radcliffe will separate into two organizations in July 1996. This reorganization focuses the college on its most popular programs for both undergraduate and post-graduates and makes Radcliffe more effective as a whole. Radcliffe has not played the part of a college since 1977, when it gave up all its graduate and undergraduate teaching to Harvard. Radcliffe's reorganization reflects its changed status as a center for educational programs for and about women rather than an independent college.

The college is dividing into two parts: the Radcliffe Education Program (REP) and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies (RAIS). The REP will include the Radcliffe undergraduate programs and the Radcliffe Studies Center, a consolidation of the Radcliffe Seminars, the Radcliffe Publishing Course, the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies at Harvard and career programming. The RAIS will put together the Bunting Institute, the Murray Research Center, the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America and the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute.

"The reorganization has helped us to clarify our mission and who our critical constituents are," said Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson. It is widely claimed that this reorganization of Radcliffe will make the institution more efficient in its programs and reaffirms its dedication to undergraduate education as well and that the new structure also will save money that can be used to fund educational programs, extern-ships, internships and fellowships.

This increase in efficiency is widely attributed to the savings which will result from staff reorganization. Radcliffe can expand its undergraduate programs such as the Radcliffe mentor program and the Radcliffe Research Partnership.

It is important that Radcliffe remain a resource for women, but in this reorganization Radcliffe will be more powerful by focusing its energies more on what students and graduates need and what they can provide. It can also eliminate any unnecessary red tape by streamlining the organization.

We are disappointed that Dean of the College Phillipa A. Bovet, who has been known as an accessible and receptive administrator, and Radcliffe Career Service staff members, who have dedicated so much time and energy to Radcliffe, are not part of the new structure.

We also regret that a college which has had such a rich history in promoting the education of women will be disbanded. But the future is more important than tradition in this case. Radcliffe can provide more effectively for students and graduates with its new structure. However, in this reorganization, Radcliffe will be more powerful by focusing its energies on what students and graduates need.