In attending the Heritage Foundation's orientation, the Republicans sent a clear message that advice and information would be coming from think tank instead of from more traditional places, like universities.

"The process has been on-going...There has been a shift away from universities to more all-purpose think tank s, which are a source of fresh thinking on public policy issues," Berkowitz said.

Even the respected magazine The Economist noted this shift from universities to think-tanks in its 1993 year-end issue.

The Economist observed this shift on both sides of the Atlantic in the past decade.

"Governments in search of advice looked to think-tank such as the Institute of Economic Affairs in Britain and the Heritage Foundation in the United States, rather than to Oxford or Harvard," The Economist wrote.

Keast said that conservatives like Wicker are using think tanks for advice, because universities are still perceived as the 'last bastions of liberal thought."

"And with this [liberal] perception and the change to a more conservative leadership, it is not a hard jump to say that the new leadership is going to look elsewhere for expert testimony and for policy analysis," Keast said.

However, Singer maintains that Harvard professors, no matter what their political affiliation, will still be asked by congressional members for advice.

"We enjoy contact with both sides of the aisle on a lot of issues," Singer said. "The professors here are respected for their expertise, and their expertise wills till be needed regardless of the political context in which the issue is being debated in."

And Harvard's Vice-President for Government, Community and Public Affairs James H. Rowe III '73, who coordinates Harvard's lobbying efforts, said that the University has gotten along quite well with the new Republican leadership.

"I don't think there is an institutional problem of any kind relating to Harvard and the Republican Congress," Rowe said. "There are extensive calls back and forth from faculty here to elected officials in Washington."

But former U.S. Sen. Jim Sasser, a spring fellow at the Institute of Politics, said that universities have already acknowledged that they are not being consulted as often as they once were and have taken measures that they hope will renew their relevance on Capitol Hill.

"Universities are rushing out to retain what they perceive to be conservative professors in the effort to diffuse the accusation that they are one-sided and liberal," Sasser said.

Although Sasser would not say if he meant Harvard, the University in April did offer a position in the government department to controversial conservative political columnist George F. Will.

Will will be a visiting lecturer in the department in the fall and will teach a course titled "Liberalism and conservatism in American Politics" with Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. '53 and Professor of Government Michael J. Sandel.