"There's a tendency for the loud and moreaggressive students to thrive and for the moretimid, less confident students to get leftbehind," she said.

Talking Back

Dean of Undergraduate Education William M. ToddIII, who said he has not yet read the report, saidhe was skeptical of the report's conclusionswithout knowing "its sources and the quality ofits argument."

He said such reports often fail to make thedistinction between schools like Harvard andlarger state universities--which often featuremore widespread instruction by graduate students.

Todd cited the CUE Guide and course evaluationforms, along with the Bok Center for Teaching andLearning--a training ground for graduate-studentteaching fellows--as evidence of Harvard'scommitment to undergraduate education.

In addition, he noted that all tenure decisionsnow take into account evidence of a candidate'sclassroom teaching skills--a move designed tolimit the promotion of professors with stellarresearch but questionable lecture-hall presence.

Todd also rebutted the report's assertion thatintroductory courses aimed at first-years shouldnecessarily be discussion-based.

"It's kind of hard to have a discussion withsomeone who's just entering the subject area," hesaid.

He also defended Harvard's attitude about theimportance of Faculty research, saying that ratherthan detracting from undergraduate learning--asalleged in the report--a professor's research maybe a boon to undergraduates seeking to learn onthe cutting edge.

"You expect your professor to be able to saysomething intelligent, but how can that professorbe able to say anything [without the ability toconduct research in his or her field]?" Toddasked.

Former President Derek C. Bok, reached at hishome yesterday, said he also has not read thereport. He said reports like the one releasedyesterday often make contradictory claims on thetime and efforts of high-profile faculty likeHarvard's.

"Society is very anxious to have professors doresearch and very interested in consulting [them]so [their] expertise can be used for society'spurposes," Bok said. "Against this you have tobalance the claims of undergraduates."

"You can't act as though you have unlimitedresources," he added. "It's unrealistic to createall these incentives for professors to do researchand then come around and say, 'Why aren't youteaching?"

Bok also defended the use of graduates studentsas instructors and section leaders as part of theUniversity's "strong commitment" to train a newgeneration of teaching professors.

The Net Result