President Bok announced Wednesday the establishment of an Office of Instructional Research and Evaluation to do research for the Dean of the Faculty and to evaluate educational programs for the administration, departments, and Houses.

The new office will absorb the duties of the Office of Tests, and will be directed by Dean K. Whitla, director of the Office of Tests.

Bruce Collier, a research assistant at the Office of Tests, said Wednesday that the new office will be "just the Office of Tests under a different name." "We already do all the things listed as duties for the new office," he said.

Bok said that the need for the new office "has become apparent under my tenure," and that the office "will give us a better way of making tough decisions about educational matters."

In the next few months the office will study House-based courses and self-paced courses, and will conduct a large-scale student-based evaluation of courses of instruction.