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Harvard Task Force Will Examine Teaching Incentives and Rewards
Cambridge, Mass. - September 5, 2006 - A new task force in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) at Harvard University will study ways to improve incentives and rewards for excellence in teaching. The task force, which will consider best practices at Harvard and other universities, will submit its recommendations early in 2007.
The Task Force on Teaching and Career Development, appointed by FAS Dean Jeremy Knowles and chaired by Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, will examine several aspects of Harvard's teaching culture: how the FAS evaluates faculty members' teaching and contributions to curricular development; the role teaching plays in the training of graduate students and in decisions to hire and promote faculty; and the ways the FAS rewards and supports pedagogical excellence and innovation.
"Universities have long been criticized for subordinating teaching to research," said Derek Bok, interim president of Harvard University. "With the appointment of this Task Force, we are dedicating ourselves to the task of considering all the ways of supporting, encouraging, and rewarding good teaching to ensure that our students receive the best education we can provide."
"We have creative and dedicated faculty colleagues, guiding some of the world's most gifted students," says Dean Knowles. "But as an institution, we can and should do more to recognize and support exceptional teaching, and indeed, to create incentives for all of our faculty to improve their pedagogical skills."
The Task Force is composed of nine FAS professors with distinguished records in teaching, research, and university service. The Task Force plans to work closely with several "partner departments" in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. These partnerships will yield both detail and scope as the Task Force forms a picture of how teaching and faculty careers develop at Harvard. The Task Force will gather quantitative data, conduct interviews at Harvard and other leading universities, review the research literature, and consult widely with Harvard faculty, students, and administrators. Its efforts dovetail with Harvard's ongoing review of the undergraduate curriculum, which calls for improvements in teaching and advising.
The Task Force will prepare a preliminary report by February 2007. Following a period of Faculty-wide consultation, it will submit its final report in April 2007.
"We have a real opportunity to make a difference in Harvard's culture," says Task Force chair, Theda Skocpol. "If we are imaginative and bold in devising new ways to visibly reward the teaching efforts of our brilliant faculty, we can enrich student learning--and perhaps develop institutional practices to share with other universities."
For more information on the Task Force mission, and for full biographies of the members, please see http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~secfas/.
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