To the editors:

While there were a number of things in the story (News, Nov. 9) about the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) with which I could take exception, one point in particular deserves comment. The statement that "HIID employs virtually no professors from the teaching ranks of the Faculty" conveys the impression that the Institute is essentially disconnected from the rest of the University.

A few statistics demonstrate how inaccurate this is. During the past decade, 89 different faculty members from six professional schools and several Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) departments served as researchers or policy advisors on HIID projects, while some 60 faculty members (many different from the 89) served as lecturers in HIID's summer executive training programs for developing country professionals. Faculty members from FAS, the School of Public Health, Harvard Law School and other units of the University are currently involved as lead or supporting researchers or policy advisors on HIID projects.

In addition, HIID's core staff teach an annual average of 34 courses in six professional schools and five FAS departments; and HIID hires an average of 80 students a year in part-time positions, and provides summer travel grants to an average of some 20 students each year to enable them to pursue research in developing countries.

And while it is true that Harvard faculty can earn a great deal more consulting in the public sector, the University encourages them to work with us by not counting the time spent on HIID activities against their one-day-a-week maximum on consulting .

Richard Pagett