Eighteen months after an ad hoc committee denied him tenure, Associate Professor of Government Peter Berkowitz continues to protest the decision.

In a rare move, Berkowitz is requesting that all of Harvard's University professors be asked to advise the University on the overall tenure process and on his case specifically.

Berkowitz's appeal is likely to rekindle debates about the fairness of Harvard's tenure process. Last December, President Neil L. Rudenstine's tenure denial to another promising young professor, Jeffrey A. Masten, then Cowles Associate Professor in the Humanities, sparked a firestorm of complaints that the system often sends rising stars packing.

Berkowitz--who accepted a one-year extension of his current appointment last spring--is in the midst of appealing the decision through Rudenstine's office. He is still awaiting an answer from the Joint Committee on Appointments on a letter he wrote last May requesting a review of his case.

But he is not waiting passively for the Committee to respond. This summer, he shifted the focus of his grievance to Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles.

In an Aug. 27th letter to Knowles, Berkowitz explained his case and asked Knowles to consider his appeal because the Office of the Dean assembled the ad hoc committee that originally denied him tenure.

Secretary of the Faculty John B. Fox '59 responded to the letter by directing Berkowitz to a document titled "The Guidelines for the Resolution of Faculty Grievances."

The guidelines are designed for cases which allege discrimination, as well as for Faculty members who "contend that proper procedures have not been followed in decisions regarding promotion or reappointment."

Berkowitz said he welcomes the chance to air his grievances in as many venues as possible--but he questioned the effectiveness of the appeals process.

"Each step in what might otherwise seem an arcane internal review process affords a new forum within Harvard in which to make our case and obtain a response to the hard questions we are asking," he said.

"We see no indication in the 'Guidelines' that the Dean's office is authorized to review Presidential decisions or provide remedies should those decisions be found to be compromised by faulty process," he wrote in an Oct. 14th letter to Fox.

Weld Professor of Law Charles R. Nesson, an adviser to Berkowitz, also said he is not convinced that the guidelines will ensure a fair process, but agreed with Berkowitz that the chance to discuss the case is important.

"We welcome the opportunity to...persuade folks at all levels at Harvard of the need to reform the tenure review process and to redress the specific abuses in the case of Peter Berkowitz," he said.

Digging the Trenches

It could be a long fight. The "Guidelines for the Resolution of Faculty Grievances," written in 1983, spell out a four-step procedure for the Faculty member to follow.