A search committee of the American Indian Program at the Graduate School of Education has appointed Henrietta Whiteman, a professor at the University of Montana, as interim director of the program, Joe Little Coyote, a member of the committee, said yesterday.

The program provides full financial support to all of its members and helps them adjust to the urban setting by creating a sense of community, Whiteman said yesterday.

Leave of Absence

In order to accept the position at Harvard, Whiteman, a Southern Cheyenne Indian from Oklahoma, is taking a six-month leave of absence from the University of Montana in Missoula, Mt.

The program has not had a director for four years because of a lack of federal funding, the program's sole source of money, Little Coyote said yesterday.

In the absence of a director, students, together with Linda Wilson, assistant dean of the School of Education, have managed the program.

"Harvard has made a significant contribution to Indian education," Whiteman said yesterday. She added that within the last six years the school has graduated 57 American Indian students. "That's a successful track record for any school," she said.