Fitzsimmons reviewed for the Faculty thereasoning behind the decision to cut the amountstudents must contribute from work-study and fromloans.
"[In the past,] access to the front door wasfine, but students were having difficulty takingfull advantage of the academic andextra-curricular opportunities available to them"once at the College, Fitzsimmons said.
Fitzsimmons said members of his staff have seena favorable response to the changes whiletraveling around the country.
"The reaction from the general public and theguidance counselors of the world has been quiteremarkable," he said.
Dean of the Graduate School of Arts andSciences Christoph J. Wolff also reported to theFaculty, reviewing the progress of graduatefinancial aid reform.
Wolff stressed the importance of remainingcompetitive in graduate aid, as well as providingpaid teaching opportunities to graduate students.
In response, Higginson Professor of History andof East Asian Languages and Civilizations PhilipA. Kuhn '54 rose to warn against using graduatestudent teaching positions to solve problems infinancial aid.
"If there is an impetus toward developing largeCore courses for the purpose of creating teachingslots, it needs to be monitored," Kuhn said. "Thedrift of teaching effort into large Core coursesis already noticeable in some departments. I knowit is in mine."
The Faculty also heard a description of theplans for the proposed Knafel Center forGovernment and International Studies, which werepresented to Cambridge residents Oct. 13. Thecurrent proposal calls for the center to utilizethe spaces currently occupied by Coolidge Hall andthe University Information Services building, witha connection under Cambridge Street.
The Faculty also heard reports on the progressof overhauls of the Hollis library managementsystem and the Harvard Educational Records System.
In a closed session following the open meeting,according to the published agenda, Dean of theCollege Harry R. Lewis '68 moved that anundergraduate be dismissed from the College.
As opposed to the request that a student take aleave of absence, the permanent dismissal of astudent must be approved by the full Faculty andis only pursued in the most serious cases