One of the goals of a proposed alumni distance learning alliance between Yale, Princeton and Stanford is to eventually enhance online resources for undergraduates, a Harvard administrative source said yesterday.

The proposed alliance would allow Yale, Princeton and Stanford alumni access to online resources at each university. Harvard has chosen not to participate in alliance discussions.

The source said the universities would like to try out the offerings on alumni. The experience could inform the development of similar resources for their undergraduates, the administrator said.

Those offerings could include online discussion groups or even non-credit courses.

The administrator said Harvard has chosen not to participate in the talks at this time in part because although such ventures could potentially help undergraduates and others, "if not thoughtfully planned and managed, one could equally easily have little value to show back to residential programs."

The proposed alliance may cost more than the member universities expect, the Harvard administrator said.

The source said under the alliance's current structure, member universities would jointly support technical development, but responsibility for intellectual content would fall to individual schools.

"Each school is going to have to do that on its own," the administrator said. "I would guess that most schools are underestimating the local investments that will have to be made above and beyond what the alliance would fund."