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Task Force at Harvard Proposes "Compact" to Improve Teaching
Cambridge, Mass. - January 24, 2007 - A Task Force of tenured professors in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) has issued a report outlining five major goals and 18 recommendations to improve the support and rewards for excellent teaching and the enhancement of student learning in the College and Graduate School.
Proposed as a "compact" to be undertaken by administrators, faculty, and students, the report calls for new efforts by all members of the community to renew Harvard's excellence in teaching as well as research. It urges leadership from the incoming, as yet unnamed Harvard University President and FAS Dean and empowerment of department chairs and individual faculty members to foster pedagogical enrichment. The report recommends more consistent attention to teaching qualifications in faculty appointments and proposes visible rewards for good teaching and efforts at pedagogical improvement at all ranks, from graduate teaching fellows to junior faculty to tenured professors.
Led by Theda Skocpol, Dean of the Graduate School and Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, the Task Force on Teaching and Career Development was formed in September 2006 at the request of Harvard President Derek Bok and FAS Dean Jeremy Knowles. It consulted widely with FAS faculty, staff, and students, as well as colleagues at peer institutions, and it commissioned reports to assess trends at Harvard.
The report's five goals for the FAS, which can be read in full here, include:
- Concrete measures to foster a more collegial teaching culture, in which faculty regularly share course materials and discuss teaching goals and practices.
- Greater support for pedagogical innovation, including funding, administrative assistance, and a review of current course scheduling practices.
- Improved systems of accounting, so that faculty achievements in teaching and advising can be more fully recorded and more meaningfully used by individuals, departments, and administrative offices.
- More consistent and explicit linking of good teaching to salary adjustments, faculty appointments, and career advancement.
- Increased visibility for exemplary teaching methods and achievements, as an educational tool and an incentive to teach well.
Eighteen action recommendations, available in the full report, elaborate these goals.
"The work of this task force and Dean Skocpol represents an important opportunity for Harvard to address and assess the way we conduct our core academic business--teaching our students," said President Derek Bok. "For decades, universities have been criticized for paying too little attention to the quality of teaching. This report provides the most comprehensive effort I have ever seen to address this problem and thereby enhance the process of learning at Harvard."
"This group of very thoughtful colleagues has focused attention on how we teach rather than on what we teach," said Dean Jeremy Knowles. "Their report will, I trust, lead to a shift in our culture that has the potential of improving the educational experience of every student in Harvard College. I am most grateful for this wise and timely report."
The Task Force report will be discussed by faculty, administrators, and students this spring. Implementation of some measures can begin this academic year, while others need to be carried through under the guidance of incoming university leaders.
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