The Faculty may schedule 8 a.m. and other off-hour classes next year in an attempt to cope with the space shortage caused by renovation work planned for Sever Hall, Harvard's largest classroom building.

In a letter sent to all professors last week, Henry Rosovsky, dean of the Faculty, strongly urged faculty members to offer courses at traditionally unpopular hours, especially recommending 8 and 9 a.m. sessions and 90-minute classes on Tuesday and Thursday.

Professors will not be forced to teach at specified times, John B. Fox Jr. '66, dean of the College, said yesterday. Instead, he said he expects that the Faculty will voluntarily cooperate with the newly formed Classroom Allocation Committee, in dealing with the space crunch.

Who Will Take Them?

Fox, who chairs the committee, said that probably only a small number of classes will meet at 8 a.m., but he added that the College won't have space for as many 11 a.m. classes as before.

About 20 percent of classes at peak hours--Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon, and Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m.--will have to move to other times, Rosovsky said in his letter.

Complexities

A College rule dating back to the 19th century prohibits courses from meeting before 8:40 a.m., when chapel starts, without express permission from the dean of the College, but Fox said permission will be granted freely next year.

Renovations at Sever, which houses more than 20 classrooms, will not be completed until at least September 1983. Though other lecture halls have closed for remodeling in the past, none was big enough to force rescheduling of classes, Edward T. Wilcox, associate dean for educational affairs, said Thursday.

Mellowing Out

Marlyn M. Lewis '70, assistant dean for co-education, said Thursday that while other universities assign professors teaching slots, Harvard is almost unique in allowing its professors to choose the times for their courses.

Next year, however, instructors will be asked to provide two alternative meeting times for each course, Rosovsky's letter said, the registrar's office may institute a computer program to coordinate course times next year instead of assigning them on a case-by-case basis, Lewis said.