FAS Tightens Hiring Policies

After adopting a conservative “soft hiring” policy this fall, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) will likely institute further restrictions on new appointments in the upcoming months.

The more cautious approach to hiring is motivated by the need for budget cutbacks in order to prevent FAS from falling into deficit, Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby said in an interview last Friday.

“We have a de facto soft freeze on hiring,” Kirby said. “It is not a hard freeze but it is likely to get harder.”

However, Kirby said he remains committed to his goal of increasing the faculty by ten percent over the next ten years—the equivalent of adding six additional professors to the Faculty’s ranks each year.

Kirby cited the poor financial situation in the FAS in his annual letter to the Faculty earlier this month, but many said that Kirby has been discussing the policy in meetings with department chairs since the fall—and raised the issue again as recently as last week.

Chair of the Department of Government Roderick MacFarquhar said Kirby had announced that he was going to act cautiously in approving new faculty searches and appointments in a meeting with fellow department chairs this fall.

MacFarquhar said he thinks the new approach to hiring is reasonable.

“The soft policy does exist, but he does respond to urgency,” he said.

But Chair of the Department of Physics Gerald Gabrielse said that a tighter hiring policy was of particular concern for the natural sciences because of the need for growth in personnel and resources in order for Harvard to remain competitive in the field.

“It is always a concern that we might be behind,” he said.

Gabrielse said Kirby discussed restricted hiring procedures in a meeting with the natural science chairs last week.

He said his department still has several searches currently in progress—searches that were all authorized before Kirby took office last spring.

“Right now we are hopeful that we can continue our plans,...[but] we are very concerned about it—it cramps our style,” Gabrielse said.

Even chairs of large departments said they are concerned about the effects of cutbacks.

“Even we need to grow...and the administration agrees,” said Oliver S. Hart, chair of the economics department.

Hart said that he is aware that the administration is being more cautious in approving new appointments, but because the department’s hiring season is just beginning, he is unsure what the effects of the new policy will be.

“Who knows what will happen, but I think that if we come out strong, it will be in the long-run interest of the institution [to approve new hires],” Hart said.

MacFarquhar said he felt Kirby’s policy is motivated by not only the budget crunch, but a combination of factors surrounding Kirby’s first year as dean.

“I think he is keen to ease himself in,” MacFarquhar said, noting that he thinks Kirby may want to look at the broader needs of the Faculty before committing to specific appointments. “At the moment, it is a rational approach to his job.”

Macfarquhar added that he does not feel that the policy has had a negative impact on recruiting throughout the College.

“We never stop looking. You have to proceed on the basis that you have justifiable claim to the dean’s attention,” he said.

—Staff writer Jessica E. Vascellaro can be reached at vascell@fas.harvard.edu.