Inter-Faculty Initiatives Growing

When Neil L. Rudenstine became president of Harvard in the fall of 1991, his first task was to unite a University that has historically been very decentralized.

Rudenstine wanted to bridge the gaps among the nine disparate and diverse schools, creating something greater than the sum of its parts.

His integration of the different faculties was divided into the $2.1 billion capital campaign, the first-ever University-wide fundraising project, and the creation of five Interfaculty Initiatives--inter-school and inter-disciplinary groups set up to seek out and research key areas of benefit to the community and the world.

The Interfaculty Initiatives--in Health Policy, Schooling and Children, Ethics and the Professions, Mind/Brain/Behavior and the Environment--were designed to involve all the schools in developing cooperative research, teaching ventures and public service projects.

"Part of the standard was that these issues were pressing social problems which we know can only be addressed through an interdisciplinary forum," says Sarah E. Wald, assistant provost for policy and planning.

Associate provost Dennis F. Thompson says connecting these resources should not be a challenging task for the University.

"President Clinton talks about building a bridge to the future," Thompson says. "We [at Harvard] just have to build tiny bridges between the tubs."

Five years after their conception, the ideas for the Interfaculty Initiatives have matured into full blown interdisciplinary and inter-school programs.

"I think the [initiatives] have made some real progress," Wald says.

"Some of them seem to be farther along than others," Thompson says. "My overall impression, although tentative, is that they're all in different ways remarkably successful."

Leverett Professor Jerry R. Green, who was provost when the Interfaculty Initiative plan first took shape, said he was directly involved with the Environment and the Mind/Brain/Behavior initiatives.

"I think both of those have gone very well," Green says.

From their creation, each initiative has taken a different path.

Two of the initiatives in particular have had a major impact on undergraduates.

The Environmental initiative is primarily a research and teaching initiative focusing on the concentration which developed from it, Environmental Science and Public Policy. Since its creation in 1993, the concentration has grown by leaps and bounds and now includes 120 concentrators.

The Mind/Brain/Behavior initiative, which also has a research focus, has become a track in four different undergraduate concentrations.

But the initiatives have a larger function than just serving undergraduates' needs.

The Environment initiative also focuses on a large-scale research project on China and the environment, directly looking at the issue of developing countries and their role in economic growth while maintaining environmental consciousness.

"[Originators of the program] believe that the best way to approach this particular issue is in an interdisciplinary way and across the schools," Wald says.

The Schooling and Children initiative is also primarily research-directed, but is offering a new course this year--Social Analysis 56, "Children and Their Social Worlds"--which will be taught in the spring by faculty from the different schools.

The Harvard Project on Schooling and Children, directed by Katherine K. Merseth, focuses on five areas--children's studies, innovative schools, the ecology of schooling, evaluation of school reform and children's health.

The Health Policy initiative has primarily manifested itself in a Ph.D. program with two Harvard schools. It is the first inter-school Ph.D. program and, according to Wald, has gained the reputation of being the best program of its kind in the country.

Ethics and the Professions has developed into a fellowship program designed to "teach the teacher." It has also spawned a number of similar programs in other schools.

Currently, the Mind/ Brain/ Behavior initiative has 37 "official" faculty members from eight schools, Children and Schooling has 12 members from five schools, Health Policy has 24 from six schools, Ethics and the Profession has seven members from five schools and Environment has about 35 members from seven schools.

But Wald says that these are not the only interfaculty topics being researched at Harvard.

"We have a number of other things, including human rights, non-profit institutions, negotiation and mediation, and international affairs," she says.

Capital Campaign

The University is trying to raise money for each of these initiatives through the $2.1 billion capital campaign.

Officials say they would like to raise $15 million for each initiative, for a total of $75 million.

This money would go to the central administration rather than to the initiatives directly, but Wald says although the money is allotted to the central administration and the president, the vast majority of funds will be spent by the Faculties in the initiatives.

But despite the promise shown by the initiatives, the University has had a difficult time raising money for them.

Ethics and the Professions, for example, has raised only $100,000 of its $15 million goal more than halfway into the campaign

Associate provost Dennis F. Thompson says connecting these resources should not be a challenging task for the University.

"President Clinton talks about building a bridge to the future," Thompson says. "We [at Harvard] just have to build tiny bridges between the tubs."

Five years after their conception, the ideas for the Interfaculty Initiatives have matured into full blown interdisciplinary and inter-school programs.

"I think the [initiatives] have made some real progress," Wald says.

"Some of them seem to be farther along than others," Thompson says. "My overall impression, although tentative, is that they're all in different ways remarkably successful."

Leverett Professor Jerry R. Green, who was provost when the Interfaculty Initiative plan first took shape, said he was directly involved with the Environment and the Mind/Brain/Behavior initiatives.

"I think both of those have gone very well," Green says.

From their creation, each initiative has taken a different path.

Two of the initiatives in particular have had a major impact on undergraduates.

The Environmental initiative is primarily a research and teaching initiative focusing on the concentration which developed from it, Environmental Science and Public Policy. Since its creation in 1993, the concentration has grown by leaps and bounds and now includes 120 concentrators.

The Mind/Brain/Behavior initiative, which also has a research focus, has become a track in four different undergraduate concentrations.

But the initiatives have a larger function than just serving undergraduates' needs.

The Environment initiative also focuses on a large-scale research project on China and the environment, directly looking at the issue of developing countries and their role in economic growth while maintaining environmental consciousness.

"[Originators of the program] believe that the best way to approach this particular issue is in an interdisciplinary way and across the schools," Wald says.

The Schooling and Children initiative is also primarily research-directed, but is offering a new course this year--Social Analysis 56, "Children and Their Social Worlds"--which will be taught in the spring by faculty from the different schools.

The Harvard Project on Schooling and Children, directed by Katherine K. Merseth, focuses on five areas--children's studies, innovative schools, the ecology of schooling, evaluation of school reform and children's health.

The Health Policy initiative has primarily manifested itself in a Ph.D. program with two Harvard schools. It is the first inter-school Ph.D. program and, according to Wald, has gained the reputation of being the best program of its kind in the country.

Ethics and the Professions has developed into a fellowship program designed to "teach the teacher." It has also spawned a number of similar programs in other schools.

Currently, the Mind/ Brain/ Behavior initiative has 37 "official" faculty members from eight schools, Children and Schooling has 12 members from five schools, Health Policy has 24 from six schools, Ethics and the Profession has seven members from five schools and Environment has about 35 members from seven schools.

But Wald says that these are not the only interfaculty topics being researched at Harvard.

"We have a number of other things, including human rights, non-profit institutions, negotiation and mediation, and international affairs," she says.

Capital Campaign

The University is trying to raise money for each of these initiatives through the $2.1 billion capital campaign.

Officials say they would like to raise $15 million for each initiative, for a total of $75 million.

This money would go to the central administration rather than to the initiatives directly, but Wald says although the money is allotted to the central administration and the president, the vast majority of funds will be spent by the Faculties in the initiatives.

But despite the promise shown by the initiatives, the University has had a difficult time raising money for them.

Ethics and the Professions, for example, has raised only $100,000 of its $15 million goal more than halfway into the campaign