The implementation of new technology poses a number of challenges, Clark says, most notably the need to ensure all students and faculty are able to use the innovations and to make sure the innovations are truly worth-while.
Clark says every effort is being made to train faculty and students in the use of the new technology, and most professors say they have been overwhelmed by offers of technical support.
Students, however, report a more mixed record of technical advice, complaining that the computer department has been swamped by calls since the semester began recently.
Most say that for those with computer--and particularly Internet--experience, the new technology is not a problem. For the computer illiterate, however, it is often hard to keep up.
According to Godi, the pace of class material is usually not too difficult, nor is the computer literacy required too much, but if a student is not familiar with either, the combination can be too much.
Clark says that most students have been able to adjust to the technology within a few weeks, and so the school adopts a sort of "sink or swim" policy. Students who are unable to keep up can then get help individually, he says.
Krim, however, says that computer and Internet use is so widespread in classes that those students who do not use the technology every day will soon fall behind.
"Most people have experience with it," Krim says. "But in raw numbers you have a lot of people who have some catching up to do, and they feel like it."
Clark says that perhaps the greatest challenge in creating new technology is to find applications that not only transfer existing elements of the curriculum to computers but fundamentally change the way business is taught.
He says that the administration can only do so much to create new applications that will be valuable and that much of the inspiration will have to come from professors.
Bowen says that many professors are just now beginning to become accustomed to the technology and are only recently on the way to creating Web pages for their classes.
"Yes, we're going to stumble, and the stuff is not perfect, but that one of the wonderful messages of the effort: experiment," he says. "It's just important to let the students know what you're trying to do."
Changes to Come
After one year in office, Clark stops short of saying he's comfortable in the position.
"Given what the first year's like, I don't know if there will ever be a year where I can sit down and relax and say, 'Well I think I've got everything figured out,'" Clark says. "There are so many things that change and so much stuff going on that you're always on the edge a little bit."
However, with a number of initiatives already under his belt, he says he feels comfortable in the direction of change and has plans for where to go next.
Clark says he would like to do more to reaffirm the importance of research to the school and increase cooperation between HBS and Harvard's other schools with that aim in mind.
"We haven't yet accomplished what we need to do over the next several years, so there's lots to be done," Clark says.
Perhaps if the reforms he makes in the future are as popular as those made in the first year of his tenure, Clark's honeymoon with the Business School never will end.