Details of Distance Learning Alliance Slowly Emerge

One of the goals of a proposed alumni distance learning alliance between Yale, Princeton and Stanford is to eventually enhance online resources for undergraduates, a Harvard administrative source said yesterday.

The proposed alliance would allow Yale, Princeton and Stanford alumni access to online resources at each university. Harvard has chosen not to participate in alliance discussions.

The source said the universities would like to try out the offerings on alumni. The experience could inform the development of similar resources for their undergraduates, the administrator said.

Those offerings could include online discussion groups or even non-credit courses.

The administrator said Harvard has chosen not to participate in the talks at this time in part because although such ventures could potentially help undergraduates and others, "if not thoughtfully planned and managed, one could equally easily have little value to show back to residential programs."

The proposed alliance may cost more than the member universities expect, the Harvard administrator said.

The source said under the alliance's current structure, member universities would jointly support technical development, but responsibility for intellectual content would fall to individual schools.

"Each school is going to have to do that on its own," the administrator said. "I would guess that most schools are underestimating the local investments that will have to be made above and beyond what the alliance would fund."

The Crimson previously reported that the three schools' discussions are focusing on a not-for-profit alliance that would probably not grant academic credit. They are discussing offering resources related to the arts and sciences at the A.B. and general education levels, Princeton Provost Jeremiah P. Ostriker '59 told The Crimson in an earlier interview.

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 declined to comment on the alliance's specifics earlier this week but said because of limits on faculty time and resources, the school ought to deliberate carefully before joining any distance learning group.

Ostriker said it might be easier for Harvard to think about joining the Yale-Princeton-Stanford consortium when the details are clearer.

"I've talked with all of the various participants and I think Harvard just needs time to consider," Ostriker said. "We may make it easier for Harvard to decide when we know what the 'it' is."

Harvard spokesperson Joe Wrinn as said the University would not comment on the proposal until the participants have made the details public.

According to Wrinn, Harvard has received many offers to participate in distance learning initiatives, but said each school within the University currently makes its own distance learning decisions.

Ostriker said the alliance would still welcome Harvard's participation.

He said Harvard's structure--which is decentralized, unlike the other schools'--makes its situation

"complicated."

But even at less-decentralized Yale, information about the proposal had yet to reach resident Internet experts yesterday.

When reached for comment, Robert Dunne, co-director of Yale's Center for Internet Studies, said he had not been consulted about the alliance and was, in fact, unaware of it.