This week, students will open their CUE Guides and consider the respective merits of Science A-35: "Matter in the Universe" and Historical Studies A-12: "International Conflicts in the Modern World."

Administrators will also be looking at the ratings--but for an entirely different reason.

Although the publishers of the CUE guide say it is intended as a reference for students, many of the University's academic departments also rely on the CUE ratings.

Officials say the CUE numbers are often used to help Harvard decide which teaching fellows to hire and which junior faculty to promote.

While the CUE guide introduction does explain that forms are photocopied and distributed to instructors after grading for the benefit of "faculty members interested in student feedback," it makes no mention of the use of forms to evaluate faculty themselves or their teaching fellows.

"The aim of the CUE Guide is to provide undergraduates with reliable information to be used during the process of choosing courses," reads one of the opening pages of this year's book, published by the Committee for Undergraduate Education.

But like the ratings inside, the committee's claims may not necessarily be accurate, some say.

"It's clear that CUE scores are used for some evaluation of both teaching fellows and of junior faculty," says Lawrence Buell, Dean of Undergraduate Education.

"Different departments use different procedures for evaluating their graduate students," Buell adds. "It's fair to say that all departments look at the CUE results with interest."

"All course heads [look at the CUE Guide results] but how far that extends--using the CUE results as a formal procedure for evaluation--just varies a lot," Buell says.

CUE ratings are used in considering the promotion of junior faculty from assistant to associate professor and in tenure considerations.

"A number of departments collect and send CUE scores for junior faculty when they're being considered for tenure," Buell says. "That's part of the evidence of teaching performance."

While Buell admits that CUE ratings are used to evaluate teaching fellows and junior faculty he says the University has not established a formal procedure for the use of CUE scores.

"Our office does not dictate how that is done," Buell says. "That's done at the departmental level."

`A Factor in Promotion Decisions'