The process of getting a course into the Core Curriculum is a difficult one. The subcommittees of the CCP are responsible for soliciting Faculty members and developing courses. The Central Committee has the final approval.

Fernandez-Cifuentes says the process "can be very irritating."

"The syllabi are scrutinized by all the committees...The syllabi go back to the professor with corrections, all sorts of things like this," he says.

Teaching a Core course can be taxing in other ways as well, Sandel says.

"Not all Faculty members want to teach large classes with many section leaders to recruit and supervise," he says.

While Fernandez-Cifuentes and colleagues such as Sandel say the recruiting difficulties are perennial, Grimmelmann says he believes there has been a growing lack of Faculty interest in recent years.

"There's less of a Faculty-wide commitment to the Core," says Grimmelmann.

Because many new members of the Faculty have come to Harvard since the Core was developed, they do not have as strong a connection with the program as the Faculty members who originally helped to develop the program, Grimmelmann says.

But many Faculty members dispute Grimmelmann's conclusions, saying there is not much change in willingness to teach or in the efforts of the CCP to solicit proposals.

"Certainly the criteria for proposals haven't changed," Tarrant says. "Our interest in generating proposals hasn't changed."

Dean of Undergraduate Education David Pilbeam says he does not think Faculty members' willingness to teach is responsible for the decline.

"From my admittedly limited discussion with colleagues, I do not see any diminution in enthusiasm for the Core, and I think the somewhat smaller number of courses this year is part of the normal variation," Pilbeam writes in an e-mail.

And Pilbeam's predecessor says maintaining the Core's philosophy is always of paramount concern.

"There's a great feeling of responsibility to look very closely at the proposals, to make sure that the whole topic fits the subject area [of the Core]," Buell says. "As far as the willingness of the Faculty to step up and offer courses, I was not conscious during my time of striking ups and downs. Some people want to teach Cores, some people don't."

Fernandez-Cifuentes says the Committee on the Core Program would not relax its standards when evaluating course offerings because of Faculty interest.