Council Lauds Foreign Study

The Faculty’s highest governing board affirmed its commitment to study abroad and pledged to tackle the rising costs of scholarly publication in its bi-weekly meeting yesterday.

The Faculty Council did not discuss the search for the new dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences or the curricular review, according to two council members.

Vice Provost for International Affairs Jorge I. Dominguez introduced Catherine H. Winnie—the new permanent director of the Office of International Programs—to the council. The two presented an update of Harvard’s study abroad programs in the past year.

In an interview after the meeting, Dominguez described the past year as “very encouraging” for international study, saying that 37 different units in the University “contributed some money to send students abroad.”

Council member Judith L. Ryan said that the body supported an expansion of the study abroad program during the academic term and summer.

“We would love to find ways to support them financially to do that,” she said after yesterday’s meeting.

Last year 351 students—less than six percent of undergraduates—studied abroad.

According to Ryan, the council also discussed ways to cover the rising cost of scholarly journals, arguing that it is unfair for the University to have to pay so much for publications that contain the work of its own faculty members.

“In particular, it’s important for the Library to keep control of spiraling costs that are being created in part by commercial journals,” Ryan said.

Professor of the History of Science Everett I. Mendelsohn stressed that yesterday’s discussions were in their early stages.

“The issues are still under ongoing scrutiny,” Mendelsohn said. “We were asked not to discuss them in public.”

The Faculty Council holds biweekly meetings that are closed to the public.

—Staff writer Claire M. Guehenno can be reached at guehenno@fas.harvard.edu. —Staff writer Samuel P. Jacobs can be reached at jacobs@fas.harvard.edu.