After Dean of the Faculty Henry Rosovsky dramatically revamped undergraduate education with the unveiling of the Core Curriculum, he decided that the quality of instruction was also due for a review; the man he chose to lead the effort was Professor of Government Sidney Verba '53.

And in this post Verba, an expert in government survey statistics, has effectively put Harvard's curriculum through a "systematic review," says Faculty Secretary John Marquand.

As assistant dean for undergraduate education for the past three years. Verba has instituted or tried to institute a number of reforms both in curricular areas--independent study, pass/fail options and honors requirements--and in broad educational areas such as the problem of sexual harassment and the quality of undergraduate instruction.

From his office in University Hall, where he is never far away from a computer terminal. Verba has come up with some solutions to those unending problems of undergraduate education and encouraged discussion and analysis of many others.

When Verba steps down from his post to become University Librarian and Pforzheimer University Professor this fall, he will leave behind a legacy not only of his systematic analysis and reform of undergraduate education but a reputation for honesty and openness in dealing with undergraduates.

Verba is philosophical about the legacy he leaves to undergraduate education. As a social scientist, he says he understands that the solutions are not going to be immediate or perfect. "Any reform decays and is oversold at the beginning," he says. "You need, as Mao said, constant vigilance to maintain the revolution. Like any institutions there are flurries of interest. This [interest in reforming undergraduate education] is one that's institutionalized in [this] office and will continue to be something that my successor will have to deal with."

Reforming and improving education has not been a high-profile job for Verba except when he took on the task of conducting the sexual harassment survey and drawing up procedures for a new policy. And though students were not necessarily pleased with the guidelines the Faculty Council ultimately adopted, they praise Verba for his handling of the delicate and controversial issue.

"His dealing with sexual harassment--that's pretty unbelievable," says Vanessa A. Davila '84, a member of the student-faculty Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE). "Unfortunately he's not the entire Faculty," she adds.

The plan of attack on education came in two waves. First Verba concentrated on the Faculty procedures of education--the rules and regulations that kept students from easily getting credit for study outside of the University, or that made independent study an amorphous get. And then the attack moved onto a less well-defined plane, "the quality of undergraduate education." The result of these efforts was Rosovsky's recent report on education as well as several recommendations.

The most tangible results of his time in University Hall are the changes made in the student handbook. "Dean Verba's period has been especially active and there has been a lot of energy emanating from him as a person. It has been a very creative period," Marquand says.

The rule changes in study outside Harvard are among those which Verba ranks as his most important legacy. Under the old rules, students had to take at least half of their outside courses for their concentration and departments had to approve the course of study. Under the new rules passed in 1981, students are allowed to take courses in whatever field they want, and a special faculty committee has been established to grant permission for study.

Since that legislation went into effect, the number of students studying outside of Harvard has leapt dramatically, according to Margot N. Gill, associate director in charge of study abroad at the Office of Career Services and Off-Campus Learning. This year there was a 54 percent leap in the number of students studying abroad for credit. And the students came from 31 different concentrations, Gill notes.

The loosening of the requirements "is one of the best things he's done," Davila says. "A lot of people are really happy now that they can get credit."

But if those requirements were liberalized, then Verba also tightened the requirements on independent study. As a result of his efforts, independent study was "given more solid academic content." Verba says. Students are now required to write up the results of their studies and have it evaluated by their advisor before credit can be granted.

While the outside study reform has increased the number of people taking advantage of it, the independent study rules have done the opposite Fewer people take advantage of the option. Marquand says.