Bok Advocates Student-Teacher Links

President Bok said that teachers should spend more time with their students in a speech to alumni leaders at the Law School yesterday.

"A research university must both teach its undergraduates and give advice to exterior institutions who need our research. Of course students often want more personal contact with the faculty--that is a problem facing all great universities. We must naturally encourage teachers to give their time to undergraduates," Bok said.

To help solve this problem, the University has implemented a system of mortgage incentives for teachers to live close to campus, Bok said.

"Sophomores and freshmen often complain about the large classes. But freshmen and sophomores tend to bunch up, in courses such as the introductory economics course, and so it seems that there are bigger classes. Students with initiative can have the contact with the faculty. We have small classes available--freshmen seminars and new sophomore tutorials. We offer a mixed menu of large and small classes," Bok said.

Bok also called for an improvement in teaching. "We must put more emphasis on the quality of teaching. It is difficult to choose these teachers. We try to appoint people who are excellent teachers as well as excellent scholars. Over 70 per cent of teachers given tenure at Harvard come from other universities," Bok said.

Bok pointed to the use of student evaluations in improving the teachers at Harvard. Younger teachers can use the video tapes to watch their own performances. "They don't like to see how bad they are--they don't like to see how they've mutilated their courses," Bok said.

Bok pointed to the "strong external incentives" which distract teachers from teaching. "We have not arrived at a final solution but we will improve," he said.

Four hundred representatives from the Associated Harvard Alumni, Radcliffe Alumnae, Harvard Club presidents and chairmen of Schools and Scholarships Committees from across the country heard Bok's speech.