By Debra Bradley Ruder

Gazette Staff

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences has achieved fiscal equilibrium, and the benefits of the University's fundraising campaign are starting to be felt, FAS Dean Jeremy R. Knowles said Tuesday.

However, the Faculty must not ignore a number of financial pressure points that include tuition and financial aid, graduate student support, faculty salaries, and scientific infrastructure, Knowles said while outlining his annual letter to the Faculty.

Other areas of budgetary concern include the libraries, the space crunch in Government and Economics, and information technology -- the fastest growing part of the budget. (The full text of Knowles' letter appears in this week's Gazette.)

Pledges and gifts to the University campaign stand at $1.75 billion, or 83 percent of the goal, noted Susan Feagin, director of University Development. Commitments to the FAS part of the campaign total more than $800 million, also 83 percent complete and ahead of schedule.

She thanked faculty members for their generous gifts of time and money to the Campaign.

In other activity Tuesday:

* Kenneth Shepsle, George D. Markham Professor of Government, outlined the consultative planning process for the proposed center for government and international studies. Three architects have been chosen finalists, and a public meeting will be held in March to share information with constituencies from within Harvard and from the neighborhood and the local community.

The Rev. Peter J. Gomes, who lives in the Kirkland Street neighborhood where the proposed Knafel Center will stand, urged consultation on the shape and scale of the center.

* Peter Bol, professor of Chinese history, discussed proposed renovations to Widener Library as well as the library digital initiative that will expand the University Library's capacity to create, collect, store, and access digital information.

* Harvey Mansfield, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Government, again raised the issue of grade inflation, claiming that nearly half of the grades given last year were A or A-minus. Knowles said grade inflation has been a subject of ongoing discussion in the Educational Policy Committee and the Committee on the Core Program, but that ultimately this is a matter for the Faculty as a whole.

* Graduate student Paul Callan, a member of the Committee on Graduate Education, asked the Faculty to address seriously the quality of the graduate student experience, stating that some students encounter unrealistic workloads and expectations, as well as poor faculty advising.

Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Christoph Wolff said the GSAS will continue a series of discussions about graduate student advising. "This is an ongoing concern in all departments of the Faculty," he said.

* Honorary A.M. degrees were awarded to John Guillory (English) and Woodward Yang (Engineering and Computer Science), recently tenured faculty members who do not already hold Harvard degrees.