“It is much better to do this right than to do this fast,” he added.

But Kirby was not swayed earlier this year when he was presented with a petition bearing the names of 1,200 students opposed to preregistration.

Though he invited the petition organizers to the Faculty Council last week to make their case, those students’ concerns were not factored into the proposal that was presented to he Faculty for discussion on Tuesday.

The Underlying Issues

Despite his revised stance, Kirby asserted yesterday that there remain several problems in the process of course selection that have yet to be resolved, such as ways to reduce lotteries for courses and better prepare professors and teaching fellows.

“Preregistration is only one part of it,” Kirby said.

Revamping Harvard’s advising system and determining the possibility of estimating course enrollment numbers using preexisting data are chief among Kirby’s goals.

“I am open to any plausible solution to the problems that we face,” Kirby said. “What we cannot do is pretend that there are no problems.”

Wolcowitz said yesterday that he and Kirby hoped that the two remaining Faculty meetings this semester would be devoted to discussing the broader issues.

“In light of Tuesday’s Faculty meeting, in makes sense to step back a bit and look at the problems and question whether preregistration is the best way to go forward,” Wolcowitz said.

—Staff writer Rebecca D. O’Brien can be reached at robrien@fas.harvard.edu.