The University has made little progress in hiring and admitting women and minorities, but expects to improve that record by 1978, according to a Revised Affirmative Action Plan and Status Report to be released today.

The report, which describes Harvard's policies and procedures to meet affirmative action guidelines, also evaluates progress since acceptance of the original plan three years ago.

It goes on to set timetables and goals through 1978.

One section of the 79-page report identifies problem areas within the University. "Although the University does not concede underutilization in a legal sense, except with respect to tenured women faculty," it states, "There are other areas of employment where continuing affirmative action efforts seem particularly important."

The report calls minority representation in the tenured, senior academic ranks and ladder faculty ranks in a number of departments and faculties relatively small.

It also indicates "the need to overcome the scarcity of representation of members of minority groups (and women) at both the undergraduate and graduate levels."

Sources close to Walter J. Leonard, special assistant to President Bok and the University's affirmative action officer, said yesterday Leonard changed the title from "progress report" to "status report" because "he did not think the work 'progress' was appropriate."

Old Censors Figures

Although the report indicates that the University expects improvement by 1978, it also warns that indices charting the availability of women and minority candidates for employment are based on 1970 census information. "Since 1970 increasing proportions of women and minority group persons have prepared for professional and managerial careers so that 1970 census information may not now adequately reflect present ratios of availability," the report states.

Availability figures are used to determine utilization or underutilization by comparing the availability of women and minorities for given employment with the percentage actually employed.

Figures on utilization in the report indicate that one department, Physics, may be considered to underutilize minorities at the tenure level, and 11 departments may be considered as underutilizing women at that level.

Those departments are Anthropology, Biochemistry, Biology, Classics, Economics, English, Fine Arts, History Psychology, Romance Languages and Literatures, and Sociology.

Three departments underutilize non-tenured women--Biology, Chemistry and Visual and Enviromental Studies, according to the report.

The government's affirmative action plan, administered by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, requires that institutions receiving substantial federal funds set goals and timetables for the hiring of women and minorities.

Compliance with the program is not based on meeting those goals but on the ability to show that an adequate effort has been made.