25 Percent Budget Cuts May Affect House Administrators

The position of assistant to the Allston Burr Resident Dean may face significant “restructuring” as House Masters grapple with the administration’s mandate to trim next year’s House budgets by 25 percent.

According to House administrators, who spoke to The Crimson on condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs, the College administration is currently considering two proposals, both of which would scale back the position. One option is to consolidate the responsibilities of the 12 resident dean assistants, requiring one assistant to manage two or three Houses. The other alternative would be to cut the position back by two months of the calendar year, making it a 10-month job.

Though resident deans said College administrators have been considering these proposed changes since February, strong opposition from students and House administrators to amending the position mounted this week, amid Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith’s announcement on Monday of sweeping cost-cutting measures across the College.

House Masters met with College Dean Evelynn M. Hammonds and University President Drew G. Faust last week to discuss specific budget cuts in the Houses, according to Adams House Master John G. “Sean” Palfrey ’67.

Palfrey said a final decision about reshaping the resident dean’s assistant position would come next week, after a student-Faculty subcommittee—called the College Working Group—reviews budget proposals. Some House administrators, who wished to remain unnamed, added that “voices were raised” at last week’s meeting.

The assistant to the resident dean is responsible for a wide array of administrative tasks, including the maintenance of an average of 400 files for current undergraduates as well as seven years’ worth of alumni files—which amounts to more than 500 files total in some Houses. The assistant also sends out recommendation letters for students applying to graduate or pre-professional schools.

Additionally, he or she is often the sole “point of access” in Houses, providing students with impromptu counseling and advising, and fielding questions about academic policies, according to a memorandum presented to the College Working Group by assistants to the resident deans of all 12 Houses.

“I can’t imagine the House functioning without us. House life would effectively fall apart,” said Otto F. Coontz, assistant to the Adams House resident dean, adding that yesterday alone, he consoled two students dealing with stress related to finals—a task he said he fulfilled willingly, but not one that is specified in his job description.

“The thought of cutting [resident deans’ assistants] is ridiculous when there are a number of administrators at the College level that no one goes to,” Sean J. Hilgendorf ’10 said. “These are the people we go to—our point people.”

In an interview with The Crimson last month, Lowell House Master Diana L. Eck said that an additional 230 administrative staffers across FAS have been added to the payroll in the last 10 years. In contrast, Palfrey said, the Houses haven’t increased their staff size for the last 10 years.

“To propose cutting back on something which is so tightly run as it is, and to target individuals in a House who are both critical to administrators and students, provided a jolt,” he said.

Students echoed that sentiment.

“This cut, as opposed to the rest, will make students’ lives inconvenient, and hurt them academically,” said Kavita Kannan ’09, a Quincy resident. “And it will put a lot more pressure on the staff.”

­—Staff writer Bita M. Assad can be reached at bassad@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Ahmed N. Mabruk can be reached at amabruk@fas.harvard.edu