Committee Report Says New Structure Needed For President's Office

The University Committee on Governance has proposed the first major restructuring of Harvard's administrative bureaucracy since 1657.

In a 65-page report made public today entitled "The Organization and Functions of the Governing Boards and the President's Office," the Committee recommended augmenting the staff of the President to include six Vice Presidents. The plan, it is hoped, would alleviate the present "overburdened" condition of the Administration.

This condition, according to the report, is the "central problem" impeding the effective functioning of University governance.

"Harvard has made do with the oldest corporate structure in the western hemisphere," Kenneth R. Andrews, author of the report and David Professor of Business Administration, said yesterday.

Because of the rapid growth of the University and the increasing importance of relations with the outside world, Andrews added, "the historic decentralization of Harvard has to be accompanied by a strengthening of the President's Office."

Under the proposed plan, an Executive Vice President for Administration would supervise the work of four other Vice Presidents. Currently, the President has only two major administrative assistants, an Administrative Vive President and a treasurer.

A Vice President for Financial Management would be in charge of functions like budgeting, auditing, real estate operations and other business-like matters.

Relations with the local community, the State and Federal governments, the public, and the alumni would be in the hands of the Vice President for External Affairs.

A Vice President of Administrative Operations would supervise the numerous miscellaneous campus services such as Building and Grounds, Security, and Personnel. The present Office for Minority Affairs would also fall into this group.

A Vice President for Development, who could possibly be an assistant to the Vice President for External Affairs, would be in charge of fund-raising for the University, relations with foundations and communication with alumni.

In addition to these five administra-tive Vice Presidents, another post, specifically dealing with educational affairs, would be created. The Executive Vice President for Education would be able to speak for the President on matters of educational policy both inside and outside the University. He would serve as a liason between the President and the Deans and act as the President in his absence.

According to the report, the institution of these posts would allow the President to act more fully as a leader, ameliorating communications between the Board of Overseers and the Corporation, and consulting more often with the Council of Deans.

The report also discusses the role of the two Governing Boards, the Board of Overseers and the President and Fellows, or Corporation. It supports the present structure of these Boards, while calling for increased communication between the two boards and more contact with students and faculty members. In order to "lessen suspicion encourage trust, and facilitate the devising and effective operation of needed changes."