Larger sections. Fewer TAs TFs. This one hurts.

So…I have an idea for how the university could save money and improve the educational experience at the same time. It’s pretty radical, so brace yourselves:

Harvard could require professors to teach undergraduate sections.

No-brainer, right? Better education for the students, and you save a bunch of money. And you create a sense of, hey, we’re all in this together. In tough times, everyone chips in.

In other words, to paraphrase Rahm Emanuel, Harvard shouldn’t let this opportunity go unexploited. In a crisis, professors will find it hard to say no to this change. (If they do, start talking layoffs.)

And in this way, you effect a paradigm shift in one of the great weaknesses of Harvard College. When the crisis is over, the cultural change stays: Professors teach sections.

Dollars to donuts it’ll never happen…