Dean of Students Office Administrators Say Priorities Remain Largely Unchanged Despite ‘Huge Disruption’

Administrators at the Dean of Students Office say they will digitize rather than discard much of their operations as Harvard transitions online due to the coronavirus.

With University President Lawrence S. Bacow’s March 10 mandate that students vacate on-campus housing, Dean of Students Katherine G. O’Dair and her office lost the ability to extend normal services to students in person, including housing lotteries, inclusion and belonging projects, and freshmen support efforts.

Despite the departure of students on campus, O’Dair said in a Thursday interview that her office’s priorities and mission will remain largely unchanged.

“Our role is still to support students, even though the majority of students are not here,” O’Dair said.

O’Dair said the DSO is continuing to provide remote academic and advising support, and that major departments under her supervision — such as Harvard College’s Title IX office — are “fully up and running.”

“Our residential staff, in particular resident deans and academic coordinators, are still working every day to support the academic progress of our students to support their personal situations, whatever they may be,” she said.

Associate Dean of Student Engagement Alexander R. Miller said Thursday that the divisions he oversees — the Office of Student Engagement and the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion — have had to be “nimble” in addressing remote student interactions.

“Our student engagement units are thinking about virtual engagement, and what that looks like,” he said. “We're being thoughtful about how we can deliver that work remotely.”

Miller — who also serves as the acting dean of inclusion and belonging until Alta Mauro takes over the role May 1 — added that the EDI Office has adapted to supporting students remotely, including by holding virtual office hours.

“While we are on campus, we see the students in front of us,” Miller said. “We've had to be thoughtful about how we can provide the same level of programming and support, but only in a virtual environment. Our staff are thinking about the impact of this new virtual environment and how that will impact belonging and inclusion.”

Associate Dean of Students Lauren E. Brandt ’01 said the DSO also continues to support faculty and resident deans, tutors, and proctors as they work to maintain the essence of the Harvard residential system from afar.

“Many of the proctors are doing virtual study breaks with their entryways. The PAFs are involved as well,” Brandt said. “The tutors and the houses are finding new and different ways to reach out to their students as well. While it is a different way of interacting with students, it’s still very much a sense of what the Harvard residential system does.”

In the absence of students, Houses have largely transitioned to virtual platforms like Zoom to sustain House life and provide students with a connection to their peers, tutors, and faculty deans.

Despite its unchanged priorities, O’Dair acknowledged that circumstances require the DSO to adapt in order to support students as the semester wears on.

“This is such a huge disruption for everyone,” she said. “It's almost like every day we have to think about how we do things differently given this new reality, and that's really what we're focusing on.”

—Staff writer Sydnie M. Cobb can be reached at sydnie.cobb@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @cobbsydnie.

—Staff writer Declan J. Knieriem can be reached at declan.knieriem@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DeclanKnieriem.