Harvard University and Radcliffe College will sign a legal document finalizing the terms of their merger this week, officials confirmed Friday. The two schools announced their intention to unite last April.

According to a deal approved by the Radcliffe Board of Trustees Sept. 2, Radcliffe College will dissolve--and the new Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study will be born--at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 1. On that day, Harvard College will assume full responsibility for all female undergraduates.

A new grant-giving organization, the Ann Radcliffe Trust, will help sponsor events and student groups targeting women's and gender issues, Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 will announce this week.

The Institute will be backed by Radcliffe College's $200 million endowment and $150 million from Harvard, forming a center for study in fields spanning the academic and creative disciplines with an emphasis on gender. The Institute will be headed by a dean and will be considered on par with Harvard's nine faculties, including the Law School and the Medical School.

Harvard Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67 called the imminent agreement "essentially the same" as the April deal.

But the document does clarify some issues left unresolved last spring, including the future of many of Radcliffe's undergraduate programs. Some of these programs have traditionally been limited to female membership, violating stated Harvard College policy against discrimination.

With the final deal, Radcliffe has now agreed to cede its undergraduate programming to Lewis' office. Lewis will assess the effects of the new arrangement on traditionally Radcliffe-sponsored programs in the coming months.

Leaders of the Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS) have already been told that they must allow men to become voting members in order to continue to be recognized as a student organization.

But Lewis said RUS, traditionally funded by a $5 term bill assessment to all female undergraduates, and the other student groups that have been funded through the RUS grant process, need not necessarily worry about future funding.