College Creates Two New Posts

In a major reorganization of the College administration, two new deans will oversee residential life and academic advising—a move that anticipates the creation of a consolidated center for advising, Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 announced yesterday.

While nationwide searches for the two posts will commence this spring, two seasoned College administrators will also take on new roles.

Thomas A. Dingman ’67, who currently oversees House life and athletics, will take over as dean of freshmen when Elizabeth Studley Nathans leaves that post this spring.

Starting next Monday, Associate Dean of the College Georgene B. Herschbach, who currently manages the College’s finances, will become associate dean of undergraduate academic programs. That post was previously held by Jeffrey Wolcowitz and Beth Doherty, both of whom left the job this year.

With the addition of the new residential life and advising positions, the College will have added or has plans to add seven new administrative posts within two years.

In 2003, Gross’s former position of Dean of Undergraduate Education was merged with his current position of Dean of the College, a move designed to consolidate responsibility for undergraduate education, extracurricular and residential life under one person. Since then, Gross has hired or announced plans to hire administrators charged with overseeing sexual assault response, mental health, alcohol and social life.

In June he hired Currier House Co-Master Patricia O’Brien as deputy dean, a position he created to handle many administrative matters within the College.

As dean of freshmen, Dingman will report to the new dean of residential life, who will be responsible for upperclass House life as well as freshmen in the Yard.

The committee charged with revamping advising as part of Harvard’s ongoing curricular review has advocated a centralization of academic advising under one person, Gross said.

Last year’s interim report for the curricular review recommended the formation of an office of advising that would coordinate and fill in gaps left by departmental and House advising.

“There are so many sources of advising here, it seems we should coordinate them,” Gross said. “We are announcing this now to put advising firmly on the map of the curricular review.”

Gross said yesterday that David Pilbeam, who chairs the Committee on Advising and Counseling, encouraged him to go ahead with the search, saying that recommendations of the committee were heading in that direction. Pilbeam could not be reached for comment yesterday, and other members of the committee declined comment because they said Pilbeam had to approve any public statements.

Gross said the College would almost certainly create a new advising center, but added that details about staffing and responsibilities of the office will have to be determined over the next semester.

“We do want one central person for the coordinating and training of advisors,” Gross said. “Right now it’s a person, it’s a job with responsibilities, but the structure of the office depends on the outcome of the review.”

Also to be determined is the exact job description for the new dean of residential life, to whom the dean and associate deans of freshmen as well as the House Masters will report.

“This is really a new position, unifying the Houses and the Yard,” Gross said, adding that he wanted the training and organization of freshman proctors and residential tutors in Houses to come from the same place.

Today, the dean of freshmen reports to the Dean of the College.

Dingman, who has served as a freshman proctor and a senior tutor for both Leverett and Dudley Houses, will take part in appointments made through the FDO this spring. Assistant Deans of Freshmen James Mancall and Lesley Nye Barth said yesterday that they were pleased about his appointment.

A search for a new associate dean to replace Herschbach and run the College’s finances will begin immediately.

With her promotion, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences is without two top financial officers. Cheryl Hoffman-Bray, the FAS associate dean for finance, shifted to an advisory position within FAS in September, and her position has not yet been filled.

—Joshua P. Rogers contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Rebecca D. O’Brien can be reached at robrien@fas.harvard.edu.