The Faculty of Arts and Sciences may not be able to make a final decision on whether the University should sever all ties with ROTC, acting Secretary of the Faculty John B. Fox Jr. said yesterday.

The faculty committee examining Harvard's relationship with ROTC told the Faculty Council yesterday that it will have difficulty meeting the original May 1 deadline for its final report, said Fox, who is administrative dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

But even should the committee meet its original deadline, Fox said, there would not be sufficient time for the full Faculty to debate the issue, because it has no meetings in May. In addition, admissions literature is printed in May, and would not reflect the decision.

Pforzheimer University Professor Sidney Verba '53, who chairs the ROTC committee, requested more time for the group to consider the issue, Fox said.

More Time

In requesting the extension yesterday, Verba said the group needs more time to examine relevant issues such as whether or not the University should make its final decision in concert with other schools, according to Fox.

Council members were unable to reach a decision on the request and instead placed the item on the docket for the next meeting, Fox said. No discussion of the actual substance of the report took place yesterday.

The nine-member committee, formed earlier this year, is charged with investigating the ROTC issue and working with the council. Three students sit with Verba and five other faculty members on the committee.

In May 1990, the council voted to sever all ties with ROTC by this May unless the military reversed its policy barring gays and lesbians from the armed services. The committee was formed to help the council make a final decision about the ROTC program.

In other business, Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles discussed an academic review currently taking place, Fox said. The Faculty is undergoing this process as part of President Neil L. Rudenstine's preparation for an upcoming fund drive.

The results of the review are scheduled for presentation to a group of deans in May.

The council also reviewed a list of candidates for its annual May election. Members were asked several weeks ago to compile a list of facultycandidates.

This new nominating procedure was developedwith the intention of making the process moredemocratic, Fox said.

In the past, because of decreasing interest inrunning for council posts, the Faculty's dean hadoften nominated many of the candidates on his own