Faculty Committee to Hold Open Hearings on Women

Members of the Faculty Committee on the Status of Women yesterday announced plans to hold three open hearings on women graduate students and faculty members starting next week.

"We are quite honestly seeking suggestions on the sorts of changes the University community is prepared to accept," Michael L. Walzer, professor of Government and a member of the Committee, said at a news conference. "We hope people will come up with things we haven't thought of," he added.

The six-member Faculty committee, set up last June by Dean Dunlop to investigate women's educational and career opportunities at Harvard, will hold its first hearing at the Faculty Club on Oct. 30.

The hearings are open to all who wish to testify, Walzer said. "We will ask Administration members to come and listen, but not to speak unless they choose to," Caroline W. Bynum, assistant professor of History, said.

The two-hour hearings, to be held on consecutive Fridays, are broken into three topics:

Oct. 30: Recruitment, appointment and promotion policies for faculty and research associates;

Nov. 6: Health services, maternity leave, day care, part-time study and work;

Nov. 13: Graduate student admissions, financial aids, discrimination at Harvard and in job placement.

Walzer said that "if interest is high," the committee will consider scheduling more hearings.

The two committee members asked that all those wishing to testify contact their office, in the basement of University Hall (495-4289) at least three days before the hearing. Speakers and questions will also be taken from the floor. They asked that those with opinions on the issue who do not wish to speak write letters.

Although the committee has been formed to deal with women above the undergraduate level, Bynum said that merger and ratio issues might be relevant problems to discuss. "We're open to arguments that we have to go into the basic issue of proportions within the University," she said. She added that the present number of women in the GSAS is about 20 per cent.