Search for Jewett's Successor Still Not Started

Five months after the College's top administrator announced plans to step down at the end of this academic year, Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles has yet to begin the search for a new dean.

Knowles will not start looking for a successor to Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 until he decides on the future format of Jewett's job. A comprehensive report on the structure of Harvard College released two weeks ago suggests three alternative configuration for the post.

"Before the establishment of any search committee, we must be clear what we're searching for," Knowles said.

The dean of the Faculty declined to get more specific on when the search will begin.

"Quite soon, we are going to need to come to a position on what kind of person would best fill that role," Knowles said.

Both Jewett and present Dean for Undergraduate Education Lawrence Buell declined to endorse any of the report's three suggested modifications to the administrative structure of the College.

The first proposal is to keep the current structure, with separate deans for undergraduate education and the College. Buell oversees the undergraduate curriculum, while Jewett is in charge of College life and the Administrative Board.

Jewett said that, with the present job description, his days are filled with "wall-to-wall meetings," not all of them useful.

Buell said he thinks the current model is a "workable one."

The report's second suggested structure combines Jewett and Buell's posts into one dean for both the College and undergraduate education.

Jewett, while holding that the combination could work, cautioned that the combined deanship could prove too time-consuming to allow much student contact.

Buell, who called this plan "the monolith," questioned whether one person could fulfill all of his and Jewett's duties.

"I worry about whether the monolith would be sluggish in prac- tice," he said.

Under the plan's third option, Jewett's duties would be divided among five or six separate deans.

Buell lauded this plan for having "the largest transfer of talent," but said the scheme is the most expensive of the three and "the potential coordinating problems are the greatest."

Knowles said Jewett originally asked him to consider the role and position of the dean of the College.

"Jewett is a very thoughtful man and a very supportive person," Knowles said. "He it was, after all, who encouraged me to think about it and to appoint a group to look at it."

Christopher Ortega and Ethan M. Ticker contributed to the reporting of this story.

Under the plan's third option, Jewett's duties would be divided among five or six separate deans.

Buell lauded this plan for having "the largest transfer of talent," but said the scheme is the most expensive of the three and "the potential coordinating problems are the greatest."

Knowles said Jewett originally asked him to consider the role and position of the dean of the College.

"Jewett is a very thoughtful man and a very supportive person," Knowles said. "He it was, after all, who encouraged me to think about it and to appoint a group to look at it."

Christopher Ortega and Ethan M. Ticker contributed to the reporting of this story.