Another goal that can be achieved usingBoylston, Wolff says, is to allow all facultymembers to have offices in both Widener Libraryand their home departments.

"We [originally] said people would have aoption--an office in Widener or in the HumanitiesQuad," Wolff says. "The committee wanted to [get]some reaction of the faculty. What became clearfrom that is that nobody wanted that choice."

So now, Wolff says, "every faculty member canhave a library study and every faculty member canhave an office in the [quad]."

Offices in their own departments are anabsolute necessity for faculty members, Wolffsays.

Sharing offices "would really rob people offlexibility, and that is really the driving force"behind the movement to give every faculty memberhis or her won office.

"We don't want to give them that excuse" fornot being in the office for students, Wolff says.

TFs would also have been "squeezed" under theold plan, Wolff says.

Faculty members seem happy about the aspect ofoffices in their departments and the library.

Weary Professor of German and ComparativeLiterature Judith Ryan, chair of the department ofGermanic languages and literatures, says the newplan would alleviate one of the few misgivingsraised by members of her department regarding theHumanities Quad.

"At one point, the question was whether facultymight have to give up their studies." Ryan says,asked about to identify negative aspects to thequad. "But that's more or less irrelevant now."

Plan and History

The plan for the Humanities Quad, in the worksnow for approximately six years, has beencarefully packaged as part of an effort that willlargely transform life in the Yard.

Closely tied to the quad plans is a proposal,already under implementation, to move thefirst-year dining hall to Memorial Hall. The newfirst-year dining hall is slated to open inSeptember, 1995.

The soon-to-be-vacant Union was the logicalchoice for a new center for the humanities.

Aside from the space, the Union is also inclose proximity to the libraries and art museums.