Knowles: Gen Ed Revamp Takes Time

Interim Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles said yesterday that revamping the undergraduate curriculum will take time but that major progress will be made this year.

Interviewed in his freshly redecorated corner office, the new dean said he wanted to use his remaining 42 weeks in University Hall to ameliorate some of the frustrations that students and faculty have voiced in the past.

“I am well aware of the feelings of constraint and the range of offerings in the Core,” said Knowles, who led the Faculty of Arts and Sciences through the 1990s.

“I have a strong hope that we can arrive at an important and even exciting new shape for general education in the College” in the months and years ahead, he said.

Even so, Knowles warned students that while decisions to overhaul the curriculum should be made this year, their implementation would require a transition period.

“I can understand your impatience, but remember, you can’t snap your fingers and have members of the Faculty create and shape major new courses in the course of a week or two,” he said.

Since a new curriculum likely will not be in place in time to affect many current undergraduates, Knowles said the Faculty would work to improve students’ experiences with the Core.

“One may need to become more generous with [Core] bypasses, for example,” he said.

The review’s General Education Committee drafted a revised report this summer that is expected to be unveiled within weeks. Previous incarnations of the committee have recommended the elimination of the Core and the creation of broad distribution requirements combined with interdisciplinary courses in general education.

Knowles also appeared to be moving to address a concern for some professors under his predecessor, Geisinger Professor of History William C. Kirby, who came under fire from some department chairs for allegedly providing too little transparency in his administration’s financial decisions.

“I am concerned that the Faculty share the same data, the same information, and therefore can recognize the conclusions and decisions that spring from those data,” Knowles said.

He added that he will soon send a letter to professors outlining the Faculty’s financial state, but declined to provide any figures until the letter is complete.

The letter, Knowles said, will be the first of several that he plans to release this year.

Others will address concerns such as Faculty growth and planning for the new Allston campus.

Knowles’ renewed presence on the second floor of University Hall was apparent yesterday in more minute ways, as well. In the waiting area outside of his office, science magazines were stacked neatly on several tables.

“I subscribe personally to Science and Nature,” said Knowles, a renowned chemist, when asked about their appearance.

“Science and Nature continue to come, the only difference is that now I am not allowed the time to read them.”

—Staff writer Evan H. Jacobs can be reached at ehjacobs@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Anton S. Troianovski can be reached at atroian@fas.harvard.edu.