Weary Knowles Eyes FAS Budget Shortfall

Jeremy R. Knowles--Harvard insider, leading enzymologist and Dean of the Faculty--is tired.

Gazing out on soon-to-be renovated Weld Hall, the thin, wiry Briton who sported shades at President Neil L. Rudenstine's inauguration and who prefaced a budget discussion with a story about a snowdrop, laments his lack of rest.

"I have done more of many things this year," he says. "I have done considerably less of one thing, and that's sleep."

When he accepted he deanship, Knowles says, he suspected what he was getting into--severe financial problems and the need for major renovations in Yard dormitories. In addition, this year Knowles faced a sensitive situation with faculty activity reporting, the imminent uncapping of the mandatory retirement age and a race relations crisis in the College.

It's a job, he says, that "lies some where between exciting and frenetic,"

Knowles' appointment as Houghton Professor of Biochemistry was the first made by Geyser University Professor Henry Rosovsky when the latter assumed the deanship in 1973. Knowles moved into the mauve dean's office immediately after Rosovsky's one-year stint as acting dean last year.

And in Knowles' first year on the job, many professors note, the biochemist's performance as dean resembles the early years of Rosovsky's reign.

Both faced financial constraints from the outset. Rosovsky broke University Hall precedent when he addressed 1973-74 budget woes with a 34-page letter to the Faculty.

Knowles followed Rosovsky's example with his own budget letter, though the current dean notes, "Mine was shorter and had pictures."

In his 10-page letter, Knowles tried to provide a lucid picture of the budget situation--an $11.7 million deficit and a widening gap between expenditures and income. Knowles says that when he moved into University Hall last summer, his first task was to gain an understanding of the budget crisis, and to find a way to ex press it clearly to faculty, students andstaff.

The dean used he first full Faculty meeting ofthe spring semester to further outline the budgetsituation and to answer questions about financialissues facing FAS. And at their final full meetingof the year, Knowles thanked faculty members fortheir support, urging them to "continue totolerate the two-letter word: the frequency of'no'."

"Dean Knowles added to what Dean Rosovsky hasdone," says Administrative Dean of the GraduateSchool John B. Fox Jr. '59. Fox calls Knowles'approach "an attempt to bring the faculty into theproblem."

Knowles says collaboration helped to avert someof the upheaval that surrounded financial crisesat a number of other American universities.

At Yale University this winter, a committeerecommended that the school lose 114 facultypositions by attrition and eliminate two academicdepartments and its social policies researchcenter.

Knowles strove to address the Faculty's budgetwoes without cutting any programs, and withouttouching areas that were central to thecurriculum.

In his letter to the Faculty, Knowles urged theprofessors to consider moderating growth insalaries and benefits; consider "economies" in theLibrary, athletic departments and the College; andreview growth in financial aid packages.

Knowles' approach, to shave away atexpenditures, was implemented through 6 percentcuts in departmental operating budgets thatRosovsky had imposed, in addition to such measuresas bulk purchasing to decrease costs andadjustment of financial aid to allow forinflation.

No Budget Committee

He deliberately did not appoint a committee torecommend changes without faculty consultation,Knowles says.

"I'm very glad we have not taken that routebecause I think it leads to tension anddivisiveness," he says.

The Faculty lacked a great deal ofbudget-related tension precisely because the deangained he trust of his colleagues, says Professorof the History of Religion and Islamic StudiesWilliam A. Graham.

Knolls was skilled at "making people feel thatwhat happens in the Faculty doesn't happen" by hiscommand, but "what the Faculty itself would arriveat with full consultation," says Graham, a memberof the Faculty Council.

And it was this collaborative approach toward avariety of issues, many professors say, thathelped make Knowles' first year a success.

"It's not an administrator talking to hisstaff, it's one colleague talking to others,"notes Professor of the Classics Gregory Nagy.

Knowles included the Faculty in decision-makingprocesses beyond budget considerations--in thesame way Rosovsky did two decades ago. Both deansspent their first years assembling a number ofcommittees and task forces staffed by facultymembers, Fox says.

But Fox says that while Rosovsky's task forceswere used primarily to gather information, many ofKnowles' committees--on ROTC, on uncapping theretirement age, on activity reporting--have beenattacking specific "problem" areas in search ofsolutions.

The ROTC committee requested more time toconsider a complicated issue. The retirementcommittee presented an interim report, suggestingpotential ways to encourage aging faculty membersto retire in full or in part. The activityreporting group developed a politically acceptableway for faculty members to record they way theyspend their time outside the University.

Knowles also assembled--and chairs--theEducational Policy Committee, a group designed toreview teaching, advising and the undergraduatecurriculum.

Such a committee has been needed for some time,says outgoing Dean of Undergraduate EducationDavid Pilbeam.

'No Signs of Cynicism'

Swamped with the work of two administrativeposts, Pilbeam, who is also director of thePeabody museum, says he considered stepping downfrom his associate deanship last year.

"I decided that I would like to stay on anotheryear to work with Jeremy, and I'm very pleasedthat I did," Pilbeam says.

Working with Knowles, many faculty members say,is fun. Colleagues praise his capacity forlearning and his unflagging sense of humor.

"No signs of cynicism Th I can see," saysoutgoing Dean of the Graduate School of Arts andSciences Brendan A. Maher.

That's impressive, many say, for someone with ajob that's far from easy.

"All first years are pretty horrible," Foxsays. "If you can survive your first year inoffice, you can survive anything."

The position itself, says Professor ofSociology Aage B. Sorenson, is badly structured.

"No other university has a person they calldean who is actually a provost--who...sets his ownbudget, has to hold the hand of every seniorfaculty member," Sorenson says.

"The job could be organized in such a way thatit could be easier for normal mortals to handleit."

Normal mortals tend to tire, and Knowles admitsthe job has taken its toll: "I have lost hairoften, temper rarely, sleep always."

And the faculty has found a man who comparesthe FAS budget to an amoeba, and who presentedFaculty Council members with sunglasses at the endof the year.

"He's been extremely graceful and very humorousand thoughtful," says Professor of RomanceLanguages and Literature Luis Fernandez Sifuentes,"I guess he was the ideal person. They chose himrather well."Crimson File PhotoDean JEREMY R. KNOWLES

The dean used he first full Faculty meeting ofthe spring semester to further outline the budgetsituation and to answer questions about financialissues facing FAS. And at their final full meetingof the year, Knowles thanked faculty members fortheir support, urging them to "continue totolerate the two-letter word: the frequency of'no'."

"Dean Knowles added to what Dean Rosovsky hasdone," says Administrative Dean of the GraduateSchool John B. Fox Jr. '59. Fox calls Knowles'approach "an attempt to bring the faculty into theproblem."

Knowles says collaboration helped to avert someof the upheaval that surrounded financial crisesat a number of other American universities.

At Yale University this winter, a committeerecommended that the school lose 114 facultypositions by attrition and eliminate two academicdepartments and its social policies researchcenter.

Knowles strove to address the Faculty's budgetwoes without cutting any programs, and withouttouching areas that were central to thecurriculum.

In his letter to the Faculty, Knowles urged theprofessors to consider moderating growth insalaries and benefits; consider "economies" in theLibrary, athletic departments and the College; andreview growth in financial aid packages.

Knowles' approach, to shave away atexpenditures, was implemented through 6 percentcuts in departmental operating budgets thatRosovsky had imposed, in addition to such measuresas bulk purchasing to decrease costs andadjustment of financial aid to allow forinflation.

No Budget Committee

He deliberately did not appoint a committee torecommend changes without faculty consultation,Knowles says.

"I'm very glad we have not taken that routebecause I think it leads to tension anddivisiveness," he says.

The Faculty lacked a great deal ofbudget-related tension precisely because the deangained he trust of his colleagues, says Professorof the History of Religion and Islamic StudiesWilliam A. Graham.

Knolls was skilled at "making people feel thatwhat happens in the Faculty doesn't happen" by hiscommand, but "what the Faculty itself would arriveat with full consultation," says Graham, a memberof the Faculty Council.

And it was this collaborative approach toward avariety of issues, many professors say, thathelped make Knowles' first year a success.

"It's not an administrator talking to hisstaff, it's one colleague talking to others,"notes Professor of the Classics Gregory Nagy.

Knowles included the Faculty in decision-makingprocesses beyond budget considerations--in thesame way Rosovsky did two decades ago. Both deansspent their first years assembling a number ofcommittees and task forces staffed by facultymembers, Fox says.

But Fox says that while Rosovsky's task forceswere used primarily to gather information, many ofKnowles' committees--on ROTC, on uncapping theretirement age, on activity reporting--have beenattacking specific "problem" areas in search ofsolutions.

The ROTC committee requested more time toconsider a complicated issue. The retirementcommittee presented an interim report, suggestingpotential ways to encourage aging faculty membersto retire in full or in part. The activityreporting group developed a politically acceptableway for faculty members to record they way theyspend their time outside the University.

Knowles also assembled--and chairs--theEducational Policy Committee, a group designed toreview teaching, advising and the undergraduatecurriculum.

Such a committee has been needed for some time,says outgoing Dean of Undergraduate EducationDavid Pilbeam.

'No Signs of Cynicism'

Swamped with the work of two administrativeposts, Pilbeam, who is also director of thePeabody museum, says he considered stepping downfrom his associate deanship last year.

"I decided that I would like to stay on anotheryear to work with Jeremy, and I'm very pleasedthat I did," Pilbeam says.

Working with Knowles, many faculty members say,is fun. Colleagues praise his capacity forlearning and his unflagging sense of humor.

"No signs of cynicism Th I can see," saysoutgoing Dean of the Graduate School of Arts andSciences Brendan A. Maher.

That's impressive, many say, for someone with ajob that's far from easy.

"All first years are pretty horrible," Foxsays. "If you can survive your first year inoffice, you can survive anything."

The position itself, says Professor ofSociology Aage B. Sorenson, is badly structured.

"No other university has a person they calldean who is actually a provost--who...sets his ownbudget, has to hold the hand of every seniorfaculty member," Sorenson says.

"The job could be organized in such a way thatit could be easier for normal mortals to handleit."

Normal mortals tend to tire, and Knowles admitsthe job has taken its toll: "I have lost hairoften, temper rarely, sleep always."

And the faculty has found a man who comparesthe FAS budget to an amoeba, and who presentedFaculty Council members with sunglasses at the endof the year.

"He's been extremely graceful and very humorousand thoughtful," says Professor of RomanceLanguages and Literature Luis Fernandez Sifuentes,"I guess he was the ideal person. They chose himrather well."Crimson File PhotoDean JEREMY R. KNOWLES