I get a message from Larry Summers (I think)

A few weeks back, I blogged about Harvard University President Larry Summers' 8,500-word letter to the Harvard community about Harvard's plans for the future, and my disappointment that the letter did not include a single mention of the Extension School.

I also emailed President Summers, at the address listed at the bottom of the letter. In the email I said the following:

... I was disappointed that neither the Extension School nor the Division of Continuing Education received a single mention in the 8,500 word document. There are thousands of Extension students from the United States and other countries in undergraduate and graduate degree programs, making it one of the larger professional schools among the tubs. The school is an important community resource. There are Extension programs that address the initiatives listed in your letter -- for instance, last year the DCE introduced new graduate degree programs in Biotechnology, the Environmental Management, and ALM in Mathematics for Teaching, which in my opinion mesh with Harvard's larger push in science and technology. Yet the Extension school doesn't even get a ten-word bullet point, or acknowledgement?

In the future, I hope that your administration and Dean Kirby do not overlook what's happening at the Extension School. The school, its faculty and students are part of the Harvard community, and can play a role in helping the University achieve its long-term goals.

To my surprise, President Summers actually responded to my letter yesterday. At least I think he did -- the response comes from the generic "Community Letter" email account and there is no way to verify that he actually typed it out. In any case, his response said that the omission of the Extension School was "not intentional" and that it is a valuable part of the Harvard community.

Fair enough. I do hope, however, that the school and its programs are incorporated into Harvard's long-term plans, and is recognized in future documents of this type.