Class, Activity Space Proposals Heard in Council

More early morning classes and a renovation of Holden Chapel were two of the suggestions the Classroom Committee made to the Faculty Council yesterday in an effort to alleviate classroom and extracurricular group overcrowding on campus.

The proposals come two years after the formation of the committee, which will continue to develop the proposals. Final say rests with Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles.

The plan recommends renovating Harvard Hall and Holden Chapel to increase the number of classrooms and offering more classes at 9 a.m., currently an off-peak time.

"I think [the Faculty Council] listened carefully," said committee Chair Geargene S. Herschbach, an associate dean of the College. "They were not negative."

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III, a committee member who has worked over the past several years to accommodate extracurricular groups in need of permanent office space, was also positive.

"They didn't have any questions which raised doubt about the efficacy of our proposals," Epps said.

According to the proposal, the committee examined the current uses and conditions of 387 classrooms on campus to determine whether space is being used efficiently.

It also considered the recent growth in extracurricular groups on campus. Since the 1990-91 academic year, more than 35 new student groups have been formed.

The number of student groups on campus ballooned from 90 in 1980 to more than 240 this year, Epps said in June.

The report endorsed a project already underway that will create one centralized database of classroom use and course enrollment, as part of the overhaul of the Harvard Educational Records System, based in the Office of the Registrar.

"[The committee] discovered that no commonly-held store of such information currently exists," the report read.

The system overhaul is scheduled for completion by next June.

The committee also found that departments are planning construction and renovation projects without considering theimpact on classroom availability.

These buildings include Boylston Hall, theLanguage Resource Center in Lamont Library, thesoon to be completed Maxwell-Dworkin building onOxford Street and the proposed Knafel Center.

Harvard Hall should be made handicappedaccessible and classes should be added to theHarvard Hall basement and Holden Chapel, thecommittee said.

According to the proposal, "Smallclassrooms...could be used for classes or sectionsby day and as meeting rooms for extracurriculargroups by night."

Student group leaders said they were pleasedwith the proposals for better accommodations.

"I'm very excited about it," said Geoffrey A.Fowler '00, editor-in-chief of Diversity andDistinction, which spent several years on awaiting list for an office before being givenspace this year.

"The number of on-campus student organizationshas grown tremendously, and for them not to havespace makes Harvard look bad," said Fowler, who isalso a Crimson executive.

The report also recommended upgrading mediaequipment in all FAS classrooms.

Finally, the committee suggested thatdepartments give first priority to schedulingclasses before accommodating departmental seminarsand conferences.

Faculty Council members said they generallyapproved of the proposals.

"The proposal is not that the registrar takeaway autonomy from the departments over theirspace," said Pearson Professor of ModernMathematics and Mathematical Logic Warren D.Goldfarb. "The database allows more efficient useof the classrooms without undermining autonomy."

Mallinckrodt Professor of Applied PhysicsWilliam Paul was also supportive.

"I'm very interested in the proposals," hesaid. "I didn't want to see time and money spenton expanding classroom space when weren't makinguse of the space we already have."

As for teaching early morning classes, Goldfarbwas less enthusiastic.

"I'm certainly resistant to teaching at 9a.m.," he said.

Several students agreed.

"There's not a chance in hell [I would take a 9a.m. class]," said Maja K. Byrnes '00. "There' noway I would ever make it there on time ".

Others approved of the Committee'srecommendation.

"[With a 9 a.m. class] you get an early starton your day," said Jennifer L. Mrowka '00."Otherwise you don't do anything before 11 a.m.

These buildings include Boylston Hall, theLanguage Resource Center in Lamont Library, thesoon to be completed Maxwell-Dworkin building onOxford Street and the proposed Knafel Center.

Harvard Hall should be made handicappedaccessible and classes should be added to theHarvard Hall basement and Holden Chapel, thecommittee said.

According to the proposal, "Smallclassrooms...could be used for classes or sectionsby day and as meeting rooms for extracurriculargroups by night."

Student group leaders said they were pleasedwith the proposals for better accommodations.

"I'm very excited about it," said Geoffrey A.Fowler '00, editor-in-chief of Diversity andDistinction, which spent several years on awaiting list for an office before being givenspace this year.

"The number of on-campus student organizationshas grown tremendously, and for them not to havespace makes Harvard look bad," said Fowler, who isalso a Crimson executive.

The report also recommended upgrading mediaequipment in all FAS classrooms.

Finally, the committee suggested thatdepartments give first priority to schedulingclasses before accommodating departmental seminarsand conferences.

Faculty Council members said they generallyapproved of the proposals.

"The proposal is not that the registrar takeaway autonomy from the departments over theirspace," said Pearson Professor of ModernMathematics and Mathematical Logic Warren D.Goldfarb. "The database allows more efficient useof the classrooms without undermining autonomy."

Mallinckrodt Professor of Applied PhysicsWilliam Paul was also supportive.

"I'm very interested in the proposals," hesaid. "I didn't want to see time and money spenton expanding classroom space when weren't makinguse of the space we already have."

As for teaching early morning classes, Goldfarbwas less enthusiastic.

"I'm certainly resistant to teaching at 9a.m.," he said.

Several students agreed.

"There's not a chance in hell [I would take a 9a.m. class]," said Maja K. Byrnes '00. "There' noway I would ever make it there on time ".

Others approved of the Committee'srecommendation.

"[With a 9 a.m. class] you get an early starton your day," said Jennifer L. Mrowka '00."Otherwise you don't do anything before 11 a.m.