Deeper and Deeper Into Hiring

This week marked the first phase of a mandated federal review of Harvard's affirmative action program, and reports from University officials indicate that the federal team has already confronted Harvard with specific areas of possible affirmative action foot-dragging.

Yesterday, the team from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) held a three-hour meeting with University personnel managers, and "they had done their homework," Thomas O'Brien, director of the personnel administration office, said yesterday.

The officials' questions focused on alleged policies of not evaluating women and minorities at lower job levels, on the issue of equal pay for equal work, and on the manner in which the University writes and publishes job offerings, O'Brien said.

Joyce Mills, manager of personnel services, said yesterday the team also addressed policies of temporary employment and questioned in particular whether "casual" employment could lead to permanent employment for women and minorities.

"The team seemed particularly interested in assuring that our policies in certain areas be more explicitly structured, and that the execution of the policies be more regularly monitored," Mills said.

The HEW officials also visited the Graduate School of Design on Monday, interviewing members of the GSD personnel office and the chairmen of the GSD academic departments.

One of the department heads, John Kain, chairman of the department of city and regional planning, said the officials asked him to prepare a memorandum for them on the department's procedures for faculty recruitment.

"I suspect they will analyze the memorandum during the next month and come back with any charges of insufficient efforts during the second phase of the review," Kain said.

Susan E. Denison, manager of operations at the GSD, said the officials in their meeting with her, besides inquiring about staff hiring policies at the GSD, also asked general questions about hiring methods throughout the University.

Both John A. Brown, assistant dean of the GSD, and O'Brien added that the HEW officials had mentioned they would follow up their inquiries in the second phase of the review during a week next month.

John D. Bynoe, director of the Office of Civil Rights of HEW, which is conducting the review, said yesterday the review team did not contact him during the week and added he did not know how the team reacted to a student demonstration earlier this week protesting alleged University discrimination.

On Monday, more than 250 chanting demonstrators, mostly students, circled in front of Mass Hall, listened to speakers from member groups of the Task Force for Affirmative Action, and then marched to the Graduate School of Design, within earshot of the HEW officials.

William G. Fletcher '76, spokesman for the task force, said the size of the demonstration turnout, the largest since students rallied in support of 24 black students occupying Mass Hall in April 1972, suggests that affirmative action is an issue students know and can relate to.