Standing Committee on Public Service Proposed

The Faculty Council approved a rough structure and membership list yesterday for a Standing Committee on Public Service consisting of six faculty members and three students.

The proposal calls for a committee to "oversee all public service and volunteer programs authorized by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences," according to an explanatory note.

Committee Chair Theda Skocpol, professor of sociology, said yesterday she hoped the group would help faculty and students examine public service issues important to the Harvard community.

"It think it's well past time for members of the Faculty to think seriously about a range of issues of how public service may be important to the College," Skocpol said.

"The committee will consider the role of these programs in the educational life of students and will advise the Assistant Dean of Harvard College for Public Service and the Dean of Harvard College on matters of scale, cost and priority," the note reads.

The three students serving on the committee will probably be the president of Phillips Brooks House Association, a representative of the House and Neighborhood Development (HAND) program and one student seat at large, according to the note.

Skocpol said she expected students to play a "full role" on the committee, although she said the issue of vote for student members has not yet been addressed.

"I expect that they will be full members of the committee," Skocpol said. "I don't picture a situation where we will be divided five-four," she added, saying the committee's purpose is discussion and reflection on public service issues.

In addition to the student members, Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 is an ex-officio member of the committee. Other faculty members are Peter J. Gomes, Plummer professor of Christian morals, Sandra A. Naddall, master of Mather House and a senior lecturer in literature, and Jerome Kagan, Starch professor of psychology. One additional faculty member will be named to the ad-hoc committee.

Council members said that their discussion of the committee sparked little controversy.

"I didn't see any major problems," said George B. Field, Wilson professor of applied astronomy. "We were all in agreement."

Peter K. Bol, professor of Chinese history, also said the committee's deliberations were not contentious.

"[Lewis] made a very persuasive case for the importance of trying to ensure that the growing undergraduate commitment to public service is acomodated to the maximum degree," Bol said.

In November or December, the full Faculty will discuss the creation of the advisory committee recommended by Lewis in last year's Report on the Structure of Harvard College.

In other business, the council changed the time of the traditional Commencement Week meeting to discuss which graduates will receive honors.

In the past, the meeting has been held at 8 p.m., which was the last possible time to hold the meeting and still get the results to the printer's office. However, computer technology has made the later time unnecessary, and the meetings will now be held at 5 p.m.

The council also considered a technical amendment to the legislation dealing with the Faculty's Screening Committee. The language was outdated, as it referred to the now-defunct committee on Rights and Responsibilities, which was disbanded in 1972

In the past, the meeting has been held at 8 p.m., which was the last possible time to hold the meeting and still get the results to the printer's office. However, computer technology has made the later time unnecessary, and the meetings will now be held at 5 p.m.

The council also considered a technical amendment to the legislation dealing with the Faculty's Screening Committee. The language was outdated, as it referred to the now-defunct committee on Rights and Responsibilities, which was disbanded in 1972