2. Professor Safran made some use of the facilities and personnel of the CMES during the performance of his research contract. That possibility should have been identified by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and discussed at the time he disclosed the contract because of the importance of determining institutional involvement. I might add that the Faculty's policies (as described at the outset of this report) in respect to contracts that are purely individual do not prohibit the contract terms referred to above.

3. I have taken steps to ensure that all individual contracts submitted for review are examined carefully in the future to determine whether the terms are acceptable or advisable and whether performance of the contract involves others at Harvard or the University's name and facilities to the point of dictating the application of policies for institutional grants.

4. I will take steps to ensure that faculty are fully informed of the relevant policies and guidelines by distributing and drawing their attention to the same annually.

5. I have asked the Faculty Committee on Research Policy whether University or Faculty policy statements or guidelines should be formally voted by the Faculty or amended to address any further problems suggested by these two contracts.

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In the past two months since the contract disclosures and the conference, the Office of the Dean has completed a review of the contracts and finances of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. I have tried to give a complete report of the facts and policies relating to the contracts in question. The review produced no evidence of other contracts or grants with problems of the type described above. Other aspects of the review have been discussed at length with the Standing Committee of the Faculty on Middle Eastern Studies.

The problem of disclosure of the conference contract may have caused a loss of confidence in the Center and in the University's ability to follow effectively its policies in areas that are crucial to scholars. We are determined to restore full confidence over time by taking steps to ensure that the Faculty's policies are widely understood and followed.

Under circumstances of continuing controversy associated with the Center, and out of a commitment to the interests of the Center and his colleagues, Professor Safran has indicated to me that he would prefer to step down as director. He has also expressed to me his profound regret for the effects the disclosure problem has had on the Center and its constituents. With sadness and deep reservation, I have accepted his decision with the understanding that he will serve as director until the end of the academic year to facilitate an orderly transition to a new administration. While I respect his decision and his reasons, the result is in important ways unfortunate for the Center. Professor Safran is a distinguished scholar in this field. His erudition and objectivity as a scholar have not been questioned and are not in question despite the recent controversy.

I may say that during the two years since his appointment as director, he has been very effective in building up the research activity at the Center and the educational offerings in Middle Eastern Studies. His contributions in these areas are widely recognized. The Center has thrived as a scholarly enterprise under his direction. It is unfortunate that it will lose the benefit of his energy and scholarly leadership. The task of the director of such a Center is inevitably made more difficult by deep divisions in the region from which it cannot be isolated. His preference for stepping down as director is motivated by a desire to see the Center recover its momentum as a scholarly enterprise and by a desire to avoid unnecessary and prolonged controversy that would interfere with his own teaching and research and that of others. I respect those intentions while recognizing that he will be difficult to replace as director.

I would like to say a few words about the governance of the Center. The Center's Executive Committee is a divided body. Three members of the Executive Committee (editor's note: Richard N. Frye, Wolfhart P. Heinrichs, Abdelhamid I. Sabra) called publicly for the resignation of the Director immediately after the conference without consulting their colleagues and before a review had been launched. At least one other member of the Executive Committee was deeply offended by that action. Under the circumstances, I believe that the Executive Committee as currently constituted cannot serve a useful function. It will therefore cease to operate as an administrative body in the Center.

As a result, the Standing Committee of the Faculty on Middle Eastern Studies, under the chairmanship of Professor Dwight Perkins, will take a much more active role in the oversight of the Center and its policies. There are some important immediate policy matters to take up. One is whether the CMES needs to supplement the policies of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences with respect to grants and contracts, to take account of the special features of the region in which scholars in the field function. For example, the Committee and the director should consider whether, given the particular circumstances of the Center, intelligence agency grants and contracts should be used for research. Centers are free to add to the Faculty's policies, provided the additions are consistent with the University's overall policies.