College Appoints Dudley House Resident Dean

Laura L. Chivers, a former freshman advisor who works in the Psychology Department, began her tenure as the next resident dean of Dudley House on July 1.

Chivers, a lecturer on Psychology, previously served as advising administrator and associate director of undergraduate studies in Harvard’s Psychology department for 11 years.

“I have worked closely with [resident deans] in the past to support students through academic and personal challenges, and am looking forward to stepping into these duties as a more central part of my position,” Chivers wrote in an email.

In addition to working in the Psychology department, Chivers has also served as a freshman advisor and a member of Leverett House’s Senior Common Room, according to Dean of Students Katherine G. O’Dair. She received her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Vermont.

“I encourage each of you to reach out to Laura, and our other three new Allston Burr Assistant Deans to welcome [them] to this great community,” O’Dair wrote in an email to College staff. The appointments for new resident deans—formally known as Allston Burr assistant deans—in Dunster, Eliot, and Winthrop Houses also became effective on July 1.

Resident deans are the principal link between undergraduates and College administrators. Among other responsibilities, they advise House residents on academic issues, as well as represent students before disciplinary bodies like the Administrative Board and Honor Council.

Although resident deans teach as half-time faculty members, their administrative duties have become increasingly “bureaucratic” over the past few decades.

Dudley is Harvard’s “13th House” and is home to non-residential students. These include undergraduates residing off-campus, participants in the Visiting Undergraduate Student Program, and around 30 College students living in the Dudley Co-op—an alternative living arrangement where residents share household chores and pay a reduced housing fee. In total, approximately 100 undergraduates are affiliated with Dudley House.

Chivers succeeds Christopher M. Gilbert, who had been Dudley’s resident dean for the past two years.

—Staff writer Kenton K. Shimozaki can be reached at kenton.shimozaki@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @KentonShimozaki.