Grad Students Chime in On Search

The student government representing Harvard’s 13,000 graduate and professional students released Wednesday a position paper on the search for the next University President. The paper, issued by the Harvard Graduate Council (HGC), called for academic and social collaboration between Harvard’s schools, a University-wide “commitment to service,” and graduate student involvement in the selection of the next president.

HGC President Cheng Zhu said that the HGC e-mailed the paper to the search committee yesterday and also shared the report with Matthew J. Murray, chair of the University-appointed Student Advisory Group (SAG) for the nine-member presidential search committee.

Murray said that the contents of the HGC’s paper were similar to the SAG’s own findings, and that the similarities meant that there are “common issues and themes” across the student body.

“The report is quite consistent with the discussions that we’ve had with the search committee and the input that we’ve offered,” Murray said.

The position paper was written to give “the HGC a public face in the presidential search process,” according to HGC Vice President of External Relations Jordan P. Amadio. A member of the presidential search committee met with HGC leadership in early October.

“We hope that our statements and recommendations will be taken seriously by the search committee. At this point, this is our major action on the matter,” Amadio said.

In addition to the “universal points” shared by the HGC representatives, specific recommendations were provided by HGC representatives from each of Harvard’s 11 graduate and professional schools.

The Business School’s recommendation called for “elevating the teaching level in the classroom,” while the Kennedy School of Government is in need of a “good fundraiser,” according to its representatives.

The Law School representatives wrote that “the ideal president will be committed to ensuring Harvard’s diverse and mutually cooperative environment of cooperation.”

Support for the Medical School’s new curriculum and cross-disciplinary opportunities were listed by Medical School representatives. Representatives from the School of Public Health called for a common calendar and cross-registration reform.

Representatives from the School of Dental Medicine, which recently changed its curriculum, called for “optimal curricula at Harvard’s graduate schools.”

Design School representatives wrote that “the ideal president will integrate the arts into Harvard’s mission...the school feels marginalized because its role is very different from other Harvard graduate schools, and the arts are not always seen as vital to Harvard’s mission.”

Divinity School representatives recommended “a better allocation of resources” between the schools.

For the Education School, “increasing diversity is critical...many students will turn down Harvard because they do not believe it has a faculty diverse enough to meet their needs.”

Extension School representatives called for increased scholarships and a president who will help build “inclusion and respect” for the school.

In its recommendations, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences representatives emphasized the need for an active, visible president.

—Staff writer Brittney L. Moraski can be reached at bmoraski@fas.harvard.edu.