Tuesday, March 5, 2002

Harvard U. Committee Will Review Whether Taking Courses on Campus Is Essential By JEFFREY R. YOUNG A new Harvard University committee will reconsider a long-standing policy that requires both undergraduate and graduate students to spend at least a full academic year taking classes on campus to get a Harvard degree. If the rule is changed, it could pave the way for degree programs at the university in which students take some or all of their classes online, rather than in classrooms. The new committee, composed of faculty members, is being formed at the request of the university's president, Lawrence H. Summers. The group will be asked to "review the university's existing residency requirement and advise [the president] and the provost on an array of emerging opportunities," said Daniel D. Moriarty, the university's chief information officer. "I expect that the committee will consider an array of issues, including residential programs other than one-year, full-time [programs], and emerging online-learning opportunities," Mr. Moriarty added. Mr. Moriarty and other Harvard officials declined to comment further about the committee, which is expected to be announced later this week. But in an article in Monday's edition of The Harvard Crimson, Mr. Summers said that experiments with online education at the university have raised questions about whether the residency requirement is still appropriate. "The question has arisen as lifestyles change and it becomes more difficult for mid-career professionals to come to the University for part of their career," Mr. Summers told the student newspaper. Harvard's School of Public Health has already been allowed to create a program that is exempt from the residency requirement. The school offers a two-year master's degree in health-care management in which students come to the campus on several weekends and in the summers. The program, which prepares physicians and dentists for executive roles in health-care organizations, is supplemented by online sessions and teleconferences. None of the program's courses are completely online, however. Since that part-time program was set up, about four years ago, other professional schools have asked to create programs that blend on-campus and online study, said Nancy M. Kane, a lecturer at the university who directs the health-care-management degree program. "Once our program got launched, other people wanted to do similar things," she said. The School of Public Health was allowed to set up its degree because students in the master's program are required to have medical degrees, and have therefore already had a campus experience, said Ms. Kane. However, Ms. Kane said that the university should not do away with the residency requirement altogether. "If a person is never on this campus and never gets to be a part of a community, then I think that really does start to raise concerns about whether they're really getting a Harvard education," she said. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

Federal auditors find shortcomings in MIT analysis of disputed missile test Value of university licenses on patents exceeded $1-billion in 2000, survey finds Athletics directors call for changes in NCAA governance structure Faculty union of Rutgers U. denounces president for rejecting arbitrator's report on dean Professors begin strike at Dalhousie University, in Nova Scotia First winners of $1-million Dan David Prize are announced New degrees, majors, or programs are announced by 11 institutions Colleges hope to save on electric bills by letting computer monitors sleep Harvard U. committee will review whether taking courses on campus is essential Australia and New Zealand consider database to combat fake degrees