Back to the Bad Old Days

If Diane Patrick leaves the directorship of the Office of Human Resources for Washington D.C. later this year, she is likely to leave in disarray the office she helped resuscitate only 20 months ago.

Patrick said last week she will leave Harvard if her husband Deval Patrick is confirmed as assistant attorney for civil rights.

She added that she will delay her departure as long as possible so she can help her successor adjust to the job. But office insiders have said in recent interviews that news of Patrick's imminent departure has already hurt office morale and touched off a minor exodus from the sixth-floor of Holyoke Center.

Vice President for Administration Sally H. Zeckhauser, who oversees the office, told the Crimson last week that the office would undergo a stable leadership change without personnel loss. But interviews with human resources employees show that statement to be inaccurate.

Three of Patrick's top directors are leaving the office in the wake of Patrick's announcement. Director of Communications Carolyn Chamberlin, Associate Director of Retirement Programs Marianne L. Howard and Director of Benefits Administration Joan Bruce will all leave the office this spring.

Zeckhauser said there would be no major changes to the department, but that Bruce might "take a little bit of time off."

Bruce could not be reached for comment yesterday because she is on vacation until Thursday.

But calls to Howard's office last week revealed that her phone had been disconnected. And in a phone interview from her home yesterday, Howard confirmed that she had left Harvard Friday and will begin a job at MIT tomorrow.

Officials in the MIT personnel office confirmed Howard's appointment yesterday, but added that the issue was "not yet official but in negotiation."

Howard said her move was unrelated to Patrick's. Howard said she was motivated by an opportunity to become manager of benefits and pensions at MIT.

"My leaving had to do with a great opportunity at MIT," Howard said, "I think that Diane's family has a great opportunity."

Sources close to Chamberlin said she will leave the office on March 14 to become director of the office of communications at Radcliffe.

Anything But Stable

Sources in the office said relations are anything but stable. They said political infighting is threatening to reverse Patrick's efforts to build a cohesive staff.

Since her appointment in June of 1992, Patrick, a former University attorney, has earned the respect and admiration of some Harvard administrators and workers for bringing stability to an office that had seen six directors in six years.

In an e-mail message to The Crimson yesterday, Provost Jerry R. Green said the central administration will be sorry to see Patrick leave. The provost also emphasized that Patrick will continue to take part in the controversial University-wide review of employee benefits.

"Diane Patrick has done a marvelous job and will greatly missed in the office of Human Resources," Green said, "We will continue to consult with her throughout the benefit review process."

Prior to Patrick's tenure, the office floated from the control of the vice president for finance to that of the vice president for administration, Zeckhauser. A year after taking over the office, Zeckhauser hired Patrick.

With Patrick's departure looming on the horizon, real control of the office reverts to Zeckhauser. She placed an ad for the job in the February 25 issue of the University-run Harvard Gazette.

But sources said the position will be difficult to fill adequately and that in the meantime relations in the office are growing tense.

Although Patrick said in an interview last week that her office staff will support her in the transition, the departure of three of her six directors will undoubtedly intensify transition dilemmas.

"I've got a terrific senior staff," Patrick said last week, "They can keep things going in the unfortunate event that there is no one to replace me."

But insiders said Patrick overestimates her staff, as well as their good nature.

At Howard's farewell party, office members performed a skit in which they parodied Harvard's central administration in a skit called "Dysfunctional Family Feud."

In the skit, one of the family feud teams included the Harvard president, a Harvard senior faculty member, the director of human resources and a members of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers. Of the four members of the Harvard team, only the union member was able to answer questions correctly.

Another official in the office, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that infighting over Patrick's position had escalated tremendously since her husband's nomination.

"People are lining up 10 deep to take that job," the official said.

Joe Mathews contributed to the reporting of this story.