K-School Acts on Lottery Complaints

The Kennedy School of Government has taken action to respond to students who complained last month about being lotteried out of courses--some of whom even threatened to demand a tuition rebate for the lost courses.

Among the changes announced by K-School Assistant Dean Mary Jane England in a memo this week:

* A course on leadership and resources taught by Lecturer on Public Policy Robert B. Reich that had denied 50 out of 150 students enrollment will be offered again in the spring semester. England promised no student will be axed from the course twice.

* To assess interest in courses, the K-School will have an informal pre-registration for the spring term. Previously, there had been no way to gauge course enrollment.

* The course catalogue will now include a clarifying statement that class sizes may be limited. Francisco R. Herrera, 41, a student in the mid-career Masters in Public Administration program, said the course catalog was misleading because it gave the impression students "would get into every class they wanted."

In a letter to K-School Dean Graham T. Allison '62 last month, students charged the school with false advertising and violating contractual agreements because they weren't able to get into courses. Some 40 students were cut from classes.