Financial Officer Will Be MIT Dean

Harvard's Academic and Financial Planning Officer Margaret R. Bates will leave the University on December 1 and travel two T-stops to become dean of student life at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

An official at the MIT news office confirmed that Bates's appointment was publicly announced at a faculty meeting yesterday.

"I'm very excited about joining a distinguished university with excellent colleagues and very bright students," Bates said.

As dean of student life. Bates's will handle non-academic issues like housing and dining," according to an article yesterday in The Tech, the MIT student newspaper.

Bates's job will be "concerned with coordinating activities of student life within and outside of the dean's office," Rosalind H. Williams, MIT's dean of undergraduate education and student affairs, said in the article.

According to The Tech, Bates will report to Williams, who could not be reached The Crimson for comment yesterday.

"Basically, I'm concerned about all aspects of student life and particularly about the learning and living environments," Bates said.

She said that she feels that her experience at Harvard and in previous positions will help her at MIT.

During her two years at Harvard, Bates worked on several projects, including preparing an application for a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Bates also served as a non-resident adviser and was a member of a graduate seminar on African political economy during her stay at Harvard.

"Any experience that involves working with higher educational institutions is useful when you go to another one," she said.

Bates had previously served as Dean of Freshmen and Associate Dean of Students at Pomona College and Vice President for Administration and Planning at the Claremont Colleges in California. She was also Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Facilities at Duke University.

Bates said she does not expect her position to be filled after her departure, indicating that her duties would be assumed by others at the University.

"I've had very good experiences at Harvard, but I'm excited about my new opportunity," she said.