A Little Teaching, Some Research and Juggle, Juggle, Juggle

Professors say many people do not realize the life of an academic is often times hectic and demanding. The hours are grueling, the expectations are high and the pay is low in comparision to comparable occupations.

For Porter University Professor Helen H. Vendler, for example, life is very hectic. Her activities within the University include participating on faculty recruitment committees, serving as associate dean of the faculty and being a senior fellow in the Society of Fellows.

Outside Harvard

Outside Harvard, she has served on the boards of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Endowment for the Humanities, been president of the Modern Language Association and is currently vice president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

But her days are usually spent teaching, in meetings and with students, she says. Since coming to Harvard, she says, she has offered two large lecture courses every year.

In addition, she says, she writes student and faculty recommendations, reads published works of colleagues interested in a faculty appointment and reads admissions folders for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Stumbling Home

"The day goes very late," Vendler says. "I stumble home around 2 a.m. and will be in my office at 9 a.m."

Life for Dillon Professor of International Affairs Joseph S. Nye is equally frenetic and challenging. A typical day begins at 6 a.m. and ends after 10 p.m., he says. The daylight hours are crowded with appointments and scheduled departmental and administrative meetings before and after classes.

In between classes and appointments, the associate dean of the faculty says he tries to write student recommendations and read works of scholars in the appointment process. As for the nights, they are usually spent in business and international dinners, he says.

"There are three balls I have to keep juggling: teaching, administrative tasks and researching," says Nye.

"My own work gets squeezed into the weekends and vacations," he says.

Autonomy

Despite these demands and expectations, a Harvard professor has a great degree of autonomy. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences has rules governing activities within and without the University, but they are not zealously enforced, administrators say.

Says Chair of the Biology Department Walter Gilbert, a professor must seek the dean of the faculty's approval before taking even a leave from the University, but the reason behind the request is not strenuously questioned.

"There is no review of the details or structure of the terms of travel," says Gilbert, who is also Loeb University professor and a senior fellow in the Society of Fellows. "We would grant the leave unless it is egregious. We are working with the assumption that they know the rules."