Getting the Call

To Cabot House Master James H. Ware, the job of leading one of Harvard's 12 residential Houses is like "being mayor of a small town.

"Through the policies they set, the resident tutors they select and the multi-million dollar budget they control, masters have tremendous influence over the lives of their undergraduate residents.

It's a task that masters say is akin to taking on a second full-time job, but one that many retain for years. Adams House Master Robert J. Kiely retired from his post last year after 26 years in the House; Donald H. Pfister departs from his Kirkland House mastership this spring after 18 years.

So when it comes to picking new masters, Harvard takes the process very seriously.

But what once used to be an appointment made exclusively by top-level administrators at the College and University has been dramatically expanded to include students, faculty and staff. The result, many say, is a process that attempts to pair a candidate's strength with the needs of a particular House. "I was actually very impressed by the process we went through," writes Angus R. Burgin '02, a student member of the committee that assisted in selecting the incoming Kirkland House master, in an e-mail message. "I came out of the process feeling good.

"Although the process is widely believed to work well, at least one influential master is calling for sitting masters' voice to be considered in the process of choosing their colleagues.

Once Upon a Time

The scope of the master selection process has expanded dramatically under the aegis of Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68. The process is a far cry from what it used to be, say long-serving masters, who recall a much simpler--though not necessarily better--process.

Once Upon a Time

"It was a different era back then. The deans had a freer hand in who they appointed," Pfister says. "I got a call one noontime, and John B. Fox '59, former dean of the College] said 'How would you like to be master in Kirkland House?' And I said, 'Let me think about it,' and that was it."

Pfister says the appointment was made without his even applying for the job.

"It just seemed a very different type of thing, where you'd be asked without application or intercession," he says.

William H. Bossert '59, who served as Lowell House master for 23 years, recalls that he was on sabbatical in Austria when he received a call from a College official who asked him to serve as master.

Although he originally declined the offer--joking that he was only called after every other candidate had said no--he says he was swayed by the calls he received the following day from the dean of the Faculty and then-President Derek C. Bok. Today, while the University president still makes the official appointment of masters, all agree that the role of the dean of the Faculty and president has become mostly a formality because the duty has been delegated to the dean of the College.

In this role, Lewis has sought to expand the number of voices in the selection process. It is a process that often spans months from start to finish, and one he takes seriously.

"My involvement in this process is a very important responsibility, because masters have such a major impact on students' experience, and they tend to keep their positions for many years," Lewis writes in an e-mail message.

When a master expresses his or her intention to step down, Lewis creates an advisory committee that typically includes the House's Allston Burr senior tutor and representatives from its student population and Senior Common room. Beforehand, the dean of the College and the associate dean for the House system solicit suggestions for master candidates and present a final list of candidates to the group.

True to its name, the committee serves in nothing but an advisory capacity; its only official duty is to forward questions and comments about candidates to the College administration. Although Lewis says he has a set of attributes in mind for a good master--a desire to strengthen the academic atmosphere of the House, a goal of improving the undergraduate experience and the ability to manage a large body of staff and tutors--he does not expect candidates to be superhuman.

"We also don't want masters to feel they have to be micromanagers," he writes. For those that have gone through it, the process works well.

"We are impressed with how much time and effort goes into the selection process," writes Pforzheimer House Master James J. McCarthy in an e-mail message. "The selection process is designed to maximize the likelihood that there are no surprises for any of us after these decisions are made.

"Pfister says he sees clear benefits to the current system that involves students in the decision-making process.

"Now, there's a sense of student involvement, and that's a good thing," he says.

But even as the process expands to include more student input, at least one House leader is calling for Lewis to give current masters more say in filling vacancies.

"We [the masters] have argued for a larger role," says Quincy House Master Michael Shinagel, who also heads the council of masters. "[Masters] know what qualities to look for in a prospective master, and they can help assess the potential of candidates."

Currently, masters have little official role in the selection process, although Lewis says he does solicit candidate suggestions from them and asks candidates to spend time meeting with current masters.

But Lewis says there are no plans to expand the current selection process to include masters.

"It would be a mistake...to think of the collective of the masters as a largely self-perpetuating group, like the faculty in an academic department, whose future members are chosen largely by the current members," Lewis writes. Some other masters say they believe they would have little to add to the master selection process.

"Though I have been through it, I don't feel that I know very much about it," Howard Georgi '68, master of Leverett House, writes in an e-mail message.