Student Group Hands Petition To Corporation; Faculty Meets Today to Debate Tenure Policy

To Jerome D. Greene '96, secretary to the Corporation, the Committee to Save Harvard Education yesterday brought its petition asking for reconsideration of the case of the ten assistant professors.

Signed by 750 undergraduates, mostly upperclassmen, the petition will be considered by the Corporation at its meeting next week.

In the meantime the Faculty will convene this afternoon after a three weeks' recess for the fourth of a series of special sessions begun early last month. Debate at these meetings has centered on tenure and related problems.

Proposals

Among the specific proposals believed to be up for discussion are:

(1) Temporary abolition of the Faculty Council, and restoration to the whole Faculty of the powers now exercised by the Council.

(2) Retention of the rank of assistant professor for the last two years of "deserving" Faculty instructors' five-year terms.

(3) The setting up of a Faculty committee to examine the relation between Faculty and Administration.

The Teachers' Union has already gone on record in favor of additional "frozen" associate professorships, a topic which is almost certain to be discussed this afternoon.

"Frozen" Associates

From the Administration's point of view it is the "frozen" associate professorships, not administrative democracy or alleged short-run teaching shortages, which is the immediate and pressing problem.

The Administration divides associate professors into three groups: those earmarked for eventual promotion to full professorships; those who are from the outset destined to rise no higher than the rank of associate professor; and those who are "competing" for futures promotion to full professorships.

The "earmarked" associate professors are the only ones that fit into the Administration's stated policy of appointing associates only where there are "predictable vacancies" waiting for them at higher rank within five or ten years.

"Frozen" Associates Now Exist

But last spring, in a number of cases where the University felt it had already undertaken "clear commitments" to give permanency to assistant professors had did not see these men in terms of full professorships, the Administration appointed them to "frozen" associate professorships.

If this expedient is made a part of regular policy, it will mean in effect that in certain classes two associate professors will be appointed in place of one full professor.

This type of "frozen" position differs considerably from the Teachers' Union proposal that a larger number of associate professorships be created than there are predictable vacancies for, and that the men in these posts would compete for a limited number of full professorships