CCL Reviews Student Life Report

The Committee on College Life discussed a report on student life drafted by University officials on Wednesday, in preparation for this year’s formal review of Harvard’s academic and institutional standards.

The review marks an important step in Harvard’s bid to renew its accreditation—the national certification of the University’s curricular standards issued each decade.

Wednesday’s meeting provided student and administrative representatives their first opportunity to put their stamp on the report, whose initial draft was assembled primarily through the use of institutional data.

Harvard officials have relied on student survey responses, faculty and staff committee reports, and the findings of such special teams as the President’s Task Force on the Arts to piece together the initial draft of the report for review.

The use of concrete source materials was necessary to create a draft that met the New England Association of Schools and College’s formatting requirements, according to Assistant Dean of Harvard College Courtney B. Lamberth, whose office had a substantial role in preparing the report.

“Now we are in an active review period where we are seeking input from students, faculty, and staff to ensure that the self-study accurately reflects the community’s experience,” Dean Lamberth wrote in an e-mail after the meeting.

One concern raised by student representatives at Wednesday’s meeting was whether the report—which makes no mention of social organizations like final clubs and sororities—captures the tendency of extracurricular and social life on campus to bleed together.

But Lamberth pointed out in her e-mail that the reaccredidation standards do not inquire about social life, and that the University’s report is “bound by [the] NEASC to adhere closely to the standards.”

The report addressed at Wednesday’s meeting was focused specifically on standards for admissions, undergraduate retention, and student services that the University must meet. It will eventually become a component of a larger report that Harvard will submit to NEASC in August.

The University last underwent the accreditation in 1997. A special two-year extension was obtained for the original 2007 reaccreditation deadline, because Harvard had not yet completed its search for a new University president.

Dean Lamberth wrote in an e-mail that the suggestions at Wednesday’s meeting “very helpful, adding that “the revised draft will reflect the feedback we received.”

The reaccreditation process will culminate Oct. 18 through 21, when a NEASC delegation, headed by Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia, will visit campus.

—Staff writer Edward-Michael Dussom can be reached at emdussom@fas.harvard.edu.