Grad Students Not To Blame

To the editors:

A recent Crimson staff editorial ("A College Above All," April 29) suggests that undergraduate education suffers from time spent by faculty with graduate students. While I certainly share the concerns about the educational experience at Harvard College, this blame is misplaced.

If faculty, as a whole, are devoting too much time to graduate students, this is news to some in GSAS. An article in the Gazette (Apr. 23) discusses current contact between graduate students and advisers: "Some students are fine if they check in infrequently, even once a year, while others need more regular, even monthly, contact."

If graduate students are not meeting with their advisers even once a month, surely this cannot be the source of problems with undergraduate education.

There are many professors who are excellent teachers of undergraduates, and many professors who are excellent advisers of graduate students. Many times, these are the same faculty members: good teaching and good advising often go together, probably more often than they do not. This may seem remarkable given the time it takes to be an effective teacher and adviser. Commitment to education, however, is often more a limiting factor than time. ADAM P. FAGEN   May 12, 1998

The writer is the former President of the Graduate Student Council.