Grad Students Hear Wild On Poll's Results

Almost 200 graduate students crowded Emerson D last night to hear Dean Wild tell them just what they think of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

The statements were based on a questionnaire filled out by all returning graduate students at last fall's registration.

The Graduate School Dean pointed out that changes made thus far on the basis of the questionnaire are "nothing sensational," but revealed that every Department has had at least one meeting to discuss the poll's results.

"Fairly Well Satisfied"

Perhaps the "most surprising" fact revealed by the poll is that 81 percent of the grad students are "at least fairly well satisfied" by their graduate training at Harvard, Wild stated.

He pointed out other statistics, however, some of which "caused the faculty both shock and soul-searching."

Forty-six percent of grad students consider lecture courses "usually good," while only 37 percent said the same thing for seminars. Twenty-eight percent found faculty members "always available and ready to see students," and 52 percent thought that "professors go out of their way to be helpful when students see them."

Job Chances

Seventy-eight percent said that their Departments had not "made an effective effort to inform, students about careers open to them," while just 28 percent thought chances of getting a job "very good." This last figure, Dean Wild added, "reflects deteriorating employment conditions."

As a result of the questionnaire, changes are being made in such areas as exams and the advising system. Some Departments are using former graduate students to advise newcomers, Dean Wild stated. "Strong efforts are being made to improve job advising, which at present is very weak," the Dean commented.

In an attempt to the relieve the present overcrowding, "we are embarking on a policy of definite enrollment cutback," Dean Wild announced.