"Under the initial proposal, if people werejudged by the test to be deficient, then theywould be given several weeks of training and wouldbe retested, at which point it would be decidedwhether they could teach that term," Wolcowitzsaid.

Knowles and faculty members said one concernwith having central control of TF screening isthat it may be unnecessarily over-regulated.

"I have no desire to be gratuitouslybureaucratic; the important thing is to ensureteaching quality," the dean said. "Somedepartments say they don't need all that, and maybe they don't."

"I don't want, of course, to take acookie-cutter approach to this," Knowles added."That would be idiotic. The goal is teachingquality, not bureaucratic tests."

Knowles said that while he encourages acompromise, he also has to set a standard.

"There has to be some sort of mechanism,"Knowles said. "Obviously it is important that TFscan both understand and be understood, and we mustestablish procedures to ensure that."

"I think it is quite improper for ourinstructional budget to be used for people whocannot teach," Knowles asserted.

Some faculty members, however, have alsocriticized the original proposal for its potentialto exclude graduate students who might be valuableTFs.

"We have to consider whether a [graduate]student who has a lesser grasp of English cancompensate by the other things they bring tosection, like insight into a particular languageor region," Baird Professor of Science Gary J.Feldman said after a Faculty Council meetingearlier this month.

Some Examination Necessary

But even though faculty and administrators maydisagree over the specifics of a languagescreening process, most council members said theybelieve that some form of examination isabsolutely necessary to ensure quality teaching.

Knowles said that asking departments to screentheir TFs for language skills is no different fromthe requirements the College imposes onforeign-born undergraduates. These students mustscore at least 600 on the Test of English as aForeign Language (TOEFL) before they can apply toHarvard.

"It's clear that there's no point in bringingan undergraduate here who is going to be utterlylost," Knowles said. "The same goes for TFs inclassrooms."

Graduate Student Council President Carlos A.Lopez, a third-year graduate student in theDepartment of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, saidgraduate students generally support screening forlanguage proficiency.

"It's generally a good idea to have standardtraining," said Lopez, who voluntarily goes to theBok Center for Teaching and Learning eachsemester.