Prefect Program Budget Balloons

Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 agreed on Tuesday to set aside $5,000 in additional funding for the Prefect Program this year, effectively quadrupling their budget.

This one-time grant will come from the Freshman Dean’s Office (FDO) budget, and $1,000 will be transferred immediately to the Prefect Program, which pairs upperclassmen with freshman entryways to do informal advising and mentoring. The remaining $4,000 will be made available to the program through the Undergraduate Council Grants Fund in a special account earmarked for prefects’ use.

Before this agreement was reached, the program’s budget was slated to be around $1,600 this year, according to treasurer Katy D. Thompson ’06. This translates to less than $1 per student.

Council President Matthew W. Mahan ’05 cited this figure and the program’s desire to hold more events for prefect groups like barbecues, themed study breaks and trips to sports games—as the reason why more funding was necessary.

“In recent years we’ve put on bigger events like Speed Dating, “Singled-out” and scavenger hunts in addition to smaller yard-wide and entryway events,” said Maria M. Reyes-Bonar ’06, an officer in the program. “But our budget has never increased to account for this.”

College officials have said that bridging the gap between freshmen and upperclassmen in the Houses might improve advising, a concern in the ongoing Curricular Review.

“The Prefect Program wanted to be able to be more involved in freshman life to provide for more integration between upperclassmen and freshmen,” Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd said. “The Dean [Gross] wants this as well, so this is a win-win situation.”

The council has been pushing for increased funding for the program for several years, Mahan said.

The program applied to the Grants Fund about a month and a half ago, but Mahan said the application raised concerns about the role of the council in financing organizations administered directly by Harvard rather than by students.

“I feel like programs run out of the offices of the University should be paid for by the University,” he said.

He said that if the council funded such a program, students would be subject to “double taxation” because they already pay fees covering College advising and programs, while the fee that goes to the council is intended to fund student groups.

Although initially the council agreed to finance what members considered “immediate” needs of the Prefect Program, Mahan said he took their case to Gross to find funds elsewhere.

“Dean Gross and the whole Dean’s Office were very supportive of the idea once we made them aware of it and made a strong case for it,” he said.

Gross’ decision to give the Prefect Program $5,000 comes during a transition year for the FDO, which will lose its longtime dean, Elizabeth Studley Nathans, at the end of the year.

Mahan acknowledged in an e-mail to the council’s open-list that the financial future of the Prefect Program and pre-orientation programs will not be entirely resolved until Gross’ search for a new FDO dean is completed.

Kidd said that this grant was a one-time change and that with a new dean ”will surely come a [new] look at the budget.”