Our Dean Search

In the Harvard administration’s job shuffle, the selection of President-elect Drew G. Faust has so far stolen the show. Flying under the radar, however, is an administrative search that will arguably have a greater direct impact on the students of Harvard College—the search for the new dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). Given the importance of this position, we hope that Faust, who will select the new dean, will give students an official voice.

The dean of the Faculty has broad powers that affect both student life and education. The dean holds the critical power of the purse over the College’s budget, and almost every student life initiative from advising to housing to social life requires the dean’s approval. The next dean also controls the fate of the College curriculum. Almost immediately, the new dean will determine whether the new General Education system is a breath of fresh air complete with new courses and more flexibility, or a reincarnation of the Core. The new dean will also have to quickly decide how to go forward with the pedagogical reforms encouraged by the recently released “Compact to Enhance Teaching and Learning at Harvard.”

Faust has already taken steps on the long and winding road toward picking her FAS dean-to-be. She is reconvening a faculty committee formed last year to advise Interim President Derek C. Bok in the search for an interim dean.

To our dismay, Faust does not plan to create a twin student advisory committee to advise her. Given the direct effect of the position on College life, however, Faust should actively and formally involve students in the selection of a new FAS dean.

Faust is taking some steps to solicit student input. She has hatched an e-mail account to pool individual students’ advice on the dean search, and, if history is any indicator, the Undergraduate Council (UC) will convene an unofficial student committee that will prepare a report and get limited face time with her.

These are, however, highly imperfect substitutes for open, organized communication with undergraduates. A committee would produce a less random and more productive student agenda than a digest of e-mails ever could. It would also serve as an excellent resource for a back-and-forth between students and Faust. And an official committee has many benefits that an unofficial one does not—it would likely get more time to actually talk to Faust, and her imprimatur would increase the committee’s profile, garnering more and better input.

Having an official student committee is all the more important because of Faust’s lack of experience overseeing undergraduates. Indeed, at a recent meeting with the UC, Faust admitted she had only a few limited windows on the Harvard undergraduate experience—her daughter, who graduated nearly three years ago, and the history seminar she is currently teaching. Consequently, Faust could benefit greatly from expanded dialogue before she appoints a dean.

Last spring, the Presidential Search Committee appointed a student advisory committee for the first time. It seems strange that students will have even less of a say in this selection—which will affect them more—than they had in Faust’s. Even though committees are often more broken than brokering, Faust should at least extend the student body the courtesy of an official audience.