Memos Criticize College Report

An author of the controversial Report on the Structure of Harvard College wrote in a letter to The Crimson this week that the report does not recommend reductions to the College's public service staff.

In a letter which runs on today's editorial page, Nancy L. Maull, administrative dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and co-chair of the committee on college structure, said the number of staff public services programs "will likely remain the same."

"Although the Report recommends that a single person have clear responsibility for all public service programs in the College, it does not recommend staff reductions," Maull wrote.

But Gail L. Epstein, the director of the College's public service programs, said she is suspicious of that claim. Epstein has written a memo to Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 protesting the report's recommendations, and she said yesterday that Maull's letter to The Crimson contradicts the administrator's earlier statements.

"My memo was written after reading the report and after meeting with Nancy Maull, when I asked [whether staff reductions were recommended]," Epstein said. "It sounds like the situation is slightly different now, which is positive."

The Crimson obtained Epstein's memo this month from a staff member of Phillips Brooks House (PBH)--the century-old student-run, staff-supported public service organization which involves 1500 Harvard undergraduates.

The staff member said he released Epstein's memo and a memo written by and PBH Executive Director Greg A. Johnson '72 because he was worried about a lack of regard for public service at the College.

"I think that a lot of people feel that this is something that would really undermine public service at Harvard," said the staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The staffer said he and other members of the organization, which has 9.5 "full-time-equivalent" employees, would be overworked if the faculty of arts and sciences accepts the report's recommendations.

"I think the issue is that public service has been growing at quite a rate, and I think that there is a real need for real support for that public service," he said. "There has been some expansion in staff at PBH in the last year or so and that has just allowed us to catch up with the need in terms of providing the kinds of services we provide."

Despite the assurances in Maull's letter, a source who worked on the report said yesterday that if the document is approved, Epstein's and Johnson's positions will be eliminated.

"It's true that their positions will disappear," the source said. "But that doesn't mean that the number of positions in total at PBH will disappear."

Both Epstein and Johnson, however, said the report is too vague in the recommendations it makes regarding staff support.

The report clearly recommends combining the positions of directors of the College's two public service organizations, the Office of Public Service Programs and PBH, into a single "Assistant Dean of Harvard College for Public Service and Director of the Phillips Brooks House."

In addition, the report suggests that PBH's "staff support and expertise will be available to all public service programs sponsored by the FAS."

Memos

Earlier this month, Johnson and Epstein responded to these recommendations with memos attacking this proposal. They said the report, if accepted, would hurt the College's public service programs.

In his memo Johnson said he believed one of the report's recommendations to be: "That the Executive Director of Brooks House, the Director of the Stride Rite Community Service Program and the College Director of the Office of Public Service be laid off."

Johnson is the executive director of PHB and the director of the Stride Rite Community Service Program.

And in an interview last week, Johnson also expressed his dissatisfaction with the report's recommendation that the positions be consolidated.

"[The report] doesn't ask to combine [the programs] in any integrated fashion," he said. "It just says they can have access to the 10 PBH staff members."

In the event the report's recommendations are approved, Johnson said PBH would need additional staff and funding. Without new resources, the organization would not be able to support the additional 700 student volunteers currently overseen by the Office of Public Service Programs, he said.

"PBH and myself think that [other programs] are welcome to apply for membership as a committee and to obtain votes and resources like any other committee," he said. "But there's a limit to what we can do without further resources--and those resources are vehicles, funding, staffing and space."

But the report as submitted makes no provision to expand these resources. Instead, the document suggests administering all of the College's public organizations through Phillips Brooks House to better increase communication and oversight.

"[W]ith the greater complexity of the programs, dealing with ever more serious social problems, come increased concern over issues of safety, liability, responsibility for other peoples' children and the like," the report reads.

Active Role

In past months, the University has taken an increasingly active role in the oversight of public service.

For example, the University Insurance Office is crucial in helping to secure insurance for the vans PBH uses in its 51 community service programs. After student members of the Phillips Brooks House Association were involved in 24 accidents this summer, Director of Insurance Annemarie Thomas attended their cabinet meeting to ask the organization to tighten its vehicles policy.

"There are rules for driving the autos," Thomas said after leaving that meeting last week. "The reason that we're developing the rules is that we're concerned about the safety of children."

The report not only recommends the consolidation of the two programs, but suggests that FAS create a "Standing Committee on Public Service" which would report to the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

But Johnson said last week that just such a committee for the oversight of public service has existed under the control of Jewett since Johnson began working for PBH in 1979.

The PBH executive director said control of the organization has been shuffled back and forth between Harvard's central administration and the faculty of arts and sciences. When Jewett became the chair of the Presidential Faculty Committee in 1986, Johnson said, the dean decided to give financial control of PBH to FAS.

"Unfortunately, we came into the Faculty at the time of budget cutbacks," Johnson said.

Johnson also referred to this committee in his memo.

"[T]here has indeed been a Faculty Committee with ability to exert authority over all aspects of Brooks House operation for may years," he wrote. "The Dean has not seen fit to convene this committee for two years."

But Jewett said last week that he does not chair a standing advisory committee for PBH. He said he does have the power to convene an advisory group, but that he has not done so recently.

"Essentially, since many of the people on that committee are also on the PBH Advisory Committee, we have not met in the last couple of years," he said.

Jewett also said he was not aware of Johnson's memo or of the possibility the executive director's position might be eliminated.

'It's Positive'

Both Johnson and Epstein said yesterday they were pleased by Maull's letter assuring continued staffing levels. But they also said the quality of the staffing should be maintained.

"I think it's positive if there are going to be no decreases," Epstein said yesterday. "I am also concerned that whatever staffing configuration [results] does not represent a decreasing [of] the level of skill in the department."

Epstein and Johnson said the University's method of referring to full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) could lead to an identical staff level in which actual staff skill could be greatly reduced.

"[Maull's letter is] encouraging, but, as Gail has mentioned, an FTE can be construed in a variety of ways," Johnson said.

"We have 13 very sophisticated programs, and we raised three quarters of a million in cash and in-kind donations to keep them out there," Johnson said. "Once the die is cast and they're all ready to go out in the field, you can not have a discontinuity like [reduced staff skill]."

Epstein also said the report's recommendations made future program planning difficult.

"It's not something we can ignore because when it comes to planning, part of the planning my office does is for the short term but part of it has to be for the long term," she said. "[Uncertainty about the future] makes it more complicated to plan, but we're going ahead and planning things and working with student programs."

The ultimate decision about the future of public service at the College rests with Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles and with FAS.

Knowles did not comment yesterday on Maull's letter or on the possibility of staff reductions.

An initial version of the Report on the Structure of Harvard College was submitted to Knowles this August. The 78-page document contains suggestions for increasing accountability of student organizations, for boosting house diversity and for revamping academic offices.

The source who worked on the report said yesterday that community service came under scrutiny because of a longstanding perception among the faculty that the two-part community service structure had become cumbersome.

"There have been a number of people saying for a long time that we ought to look at the structure, and that it didn't make sense to have these two pieces," the source said.

Johnson said he was not surprised that PBH had once again become the object of reformers' zeal.

"PBH and public service have undergone these processes [before]--about seven of them in the last five years," he said.

Johnson added that he was not surprised by the scope of the proposed reforms. "I didn't know what the recommendations were going to be until they were mailed out and sent to the press," he said. "I've been at Harvard as an undergraduate and I'm seldom surprised by much."Crimson File PhotoA new restructuring report for Harvard College makes recommendations that would significantly change Philips Brooks House.

The Crimson obtained Epstein's memo this month from a staff member of Phillips Brooks House (PBH)--the century-old student-run, staff-supported public service organization which involves 1500 Harvard undergraduates.

The staff member said he released Epstein's memo and a memo written by and PBH Executive Director Greg A. Johnson '72 because he was worried about a lack of regard for public service at the College.

"I think that a lot of people feel that this is something that would really undermine public service at Harvard," said the staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The staffer said he and other members of the organization, which has 9.5 "full-time-equivalent" employees, would be overworked if the faculty of arts and sciences accepts the report's recommendations.

"I think the issue is that public service has been growing at quite a rate, and I think that there is a real need for real support for that public service," he said. "There has been some expansion in staff at PBH in the last year or so and that has just allowed us to catch up with the need in terms of providing the kinds of services we provide."

Despite the assurances in Maull's letter, a source who worked on the report said yesterday that if the document is approved, Epstein's and Johnson's positions will be eliminated.

"It's true that their positions will disappear," the source said. "But that doesn't mean that the number of positions in total at PBH will disappear."

Both Epstein and Johnson, however, said the report is too vague in the recommendations it makes regarding staff support.

The report clearly recommends combining the positions of directors of the College's two public service organizations, the Office of Public Service Programs and PBH, into a single "Assistant Dean of Harvard College for Public Service and Director of the Phillips Brooks House."

In addition, the report suggests that PBH's "staff support and expertise will be available to all public service programs sponsored by the FAS."

Memos

Earlier this month, Johnson and Epstein responded to these recommendations with memos attacking this proposal. They said the report, if accepted, would hurt the College's public service programs.

In his memo Johnson said he believed one of the report's recommendations to be: "That the Executive Director of Brooks House, the Director of the Stride Rite Community Service Program and the College Director of the Office of Public Service be laid off."

Johnson is the executive director of PHB and the director of the Stride Rite Community Service Program.

And in an interview last week, Johnson also expressed his dissatisfaction with the report's recommendation that the positions be consolidated.

"[The report] doesn't ask to combine [the programs] in any integrated fashion," he said. "It just says they can have access to the 10 PBH staff members."

In the event the report's recommendations are approved, Johnson said PBH would need additional staff and funding. Without new resources, the organization would not be able to support the additional 700 student volunteers currently overseen by the Office of Public Service Programs, he said.

"PBH and myself think that [other programs] are welcome to apply for membership as a committee and to obtain votes and resources like any other committee," he said. "But there's a limit to what we can do without further resources--and those resources are vehicles, funding, staffing and space."

But the report as submitted makes no provision to expand these resources. Instead, the document suggests administering all of the College's public organizations through Phillips Brooks House to better increase communication and oversight.

"[W]ith the greater complexity of the programs, dealing with ever more serious social problems, come increased concern over issues of safety, liability, responsibility for other peoples' children and the like," the report reads.

Active Role

In past months, the University has taken an increasingly active role in the oversight of public service.

For example, the University Insurance Office is crucial in helping to secure insurance for the vans PBH uses in its 51 community service programs. After student members of the Phillips Brooks House Association were involved in 24 accidents this summer, Director of Insurance Annemarie Thomas attended their cabinet meeting to ask the organization to tighten its vehicles policy.

"There are rules for driving the autos," Thomas said after leaving that meeting last week. "The reason that we're developing the rules is that we're concerned about the safety of children."

The report not only recommends the consolidation of the two programs, but suggests that FAS create a "Standing Committee on Public Service" which would report to the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

But Johnson said last week that just such a committee for the oversight of public service has existed under the control of Jewett since Johnson began working for PBH in 1979.

The PBH executive director said control of the organization has been shuffled back and forth between Harvard's central administration and the faculty of arts and sciences. When Jewett became the chair of the Presidential Faculty Committee in 1986, Johnson said, the dean decided to give financial control of PBH to FAS.

"Unfortunately, we came into the Faculty at the time of budget cutbacks," Johnson said.

Johnson also referred to this committee in his memo.

"[T]here has indeed been a Faculty Committee with ability to exert authority over all aspects of Brooks House operation for may years," he wrote. "The Dean has not seen fit to convene this committee for two years."

But Jewett said last week that he does not chair a standing advisory committee for PBH. He said he does have the power to convene an advisory group, but that he has not done so recently.

"Essentially, since many of the people on that committee are also on the PBH Advisory Committee, we have not met in the last couple of years," he said.

Jewett also said he was not aware of Johnson's memo or of the possibility the executive director's position might be eliminated.

'It's Positive'

Both Johnson and Epstein said yesterday they were pleased by Maull's letter assuring continued staffing levels. But they also said the quality of the staffing should be maintained.

"I think it's positive if there are going to be no decreases," Epstein said yesterday. "I am also concerned that whatever staffing configuration [results] does not represent a decreasing [of] the level of skill in the department."

Epstein and Johnson said the University's method of referring to full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) could lead to an identical staff level in which actual staff skill could be greatly reduced.

"[Maull's letter is] encouraging, but, as Gail has mentioned, an FTE can be construed in a variety of ways," Johnson said.

"We have 13 very sophisticated programs, and we raised three quarters of a million in cash and in-kind donations to keep them out there," Johnson said. "Once the die is cast and they're all ready to go out in the field, you can not have a discontinuity like [reduced staff skill]."

Epstein also said the report's recommendations made future program planning difficult.

"It's not something we can ignore because when it comes to planning, part of the planning my office does is for the short term but part of it has to be for the long term," she said. "[Uncertainty about the future] makes it more complicated to plan, but we're going ahead and planning things and working with student programs."

The ultimate decision about the future of public service at the College rests with Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles and with FAS.

Knowles did not comment yesterday on Maull's letter or on the possibility of staff reductions.

An initial version of the Report on the Structure of Harvard College was submitted to Knowles this August. The 78-page document contains suggestions for increasing accountability of student organizations, for boosting house diversity and for revamping academic offices.

The source who worked on the report said yesterday that community service came under scrutiny because of a longstanding perception among the faculty that the two-part community service structure had become cumbersome.

"There have been a number of people saying for a long time that we ought to look at the structure, and that it didn't make sense to have these two pieces," the source said.

Johnson said he was not surprised that PBH had once again become the object of reformers' zeal.

"PBH and public service have undergone these processes [before]--about seven of them in the last five years," he said.

Johnson added that he was not surprised by the scope of the proposed reforms. "I didn't know what the recommendations were going to be until they were mailed out and sent to the press," he said. "I've been at Harvard as an undergraduate and I'm seldom surprised by much."Crimson File PhotoA new restructuring report for Harvard College makes recommendations that would significantly change Philips Brooks House.