Dean Wrestles With Dilemma

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He understands why the Corporation rejected one of the recommendations of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Standing Committee on Benefits, but also supports the committee's report, which professors endorsed at last week's Faculty Meeting.

Knowles called the report "careful and thoughtful" in March, before the Corporation decided to adopt a soft cap on contributions to post-retirement health care, but not to rescind a one percent reduction in pension contributions.

But Knowles has repeatedly refused--both after the Faculty Meeting last week and in an interview yesterday--to take a stand on the report's contents or the Corporation's decisions.

Due to differing financial concerns, Knowles's loyalty to the Faculty and the University, normally at one, is split on this issue.

Knowles, who was appointed by and reports to President Neil L. Rudenstine, acknowledged last month that the University's interests are on his mind.

"I want the best solution both for the individual members of this community and the institution as a whole; that balance needs to be very carefully thought through," Knowles said in April before the Corporation announced its decision.

Now though, the dean will say that he is concerned about the state of FAS-administrative relations.

After the Corporation's decision was announced last month, professors said the rejection of the Standing Committee's proposal to rescind the pension reduction would serve only to increase tension and decrease touch between the Faculty and the administration.

"[The Faculty is] concerned that the proposals of the Standing Committee were not all accepted," Knowles said yesterday.

At the Faculty meeting last week, Knowles referred to the relationship between the Corporation and the FAS as "somewhat fractured."

In addition to their reaction to the Corporation's decision last month, some professors are still smarting from what they viewed as an exclusion from the Task Force on Benefits which made the original proposals for changes to fringe benefits last month.

"The operation of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences works very much better when there is trust. I believe one of the elements that leads to trust is understanding," Knowles said yesterday.

I hope that the resources committee that I am in the process of establishing will lead to a greater level of understanding, and through that, a higher level of trust," he continued.

The Faculty Committee on Resources will be charged with examining those central administration budget issues and projects which affect the finances of the FAS.

"This is in a sense experimental," Knowles said. "I want it to work. If it proves appropriate to modify it in the light of experience in the course of the next year, we shall modify it."

The committee in its current form is a result of discussions prompted by Coolidge Professor of History and Professor of Economics David S. Landes, who has charged the administration with taxing the Faculty without adequate representation.

But Knowles said yesterday that the concerns which prompted his decision to form the committee are not new.

"I was going to do this last summer. I was beginning to think of an FAS resources committee," the dean said. "I would like to have a small group of thoughtful and analytical colleagues."

"The world thinks it is reactive," Knowles said. "But it's not."