More Than a Paycheck?

Editors' Note: Worldwide, Harvard may symbolize academic excellence, but to 38,000 people in the Cambridge area, Harvard means a paycheck.

The University's excellence as an employer has come under question in recent years. This issue moved to the forefront this spring as the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) waged an all-out campaign to organize the University's nearly 4000 support staff workers. HUCTW won by a narrow margin, but pending an investigation of alleged unfair campaign tactics, the future of collective bargaining remains uncertain for Harvard's clerical staff.

But the issue of Harvard's role as an employer does not touch only support staff. Junior professors, who number about 400 in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, must cope with salaries too small to accommodate Cambridge's high cost of living, jobs that rarely lead to tenure and heavy teaching loads. Junior faculty members say their transient lives often leave them feeling detached from the Harvard community. The administration has begun to show concern for its junior professors, as Dean of the Faculty A. Michael Spence this week issued his second report on the subject.

Harvard became the defendant in two court cases charging gender discrimination, focusing attention on the University's treatment of women. Harvard's affirmative action policy for women received a boost, however, when Sally Zeckhauser became the University's first female vice president.

Harvard's policy toward minorities also came under attack this spring, as students in both the College and the Law School mobilized to protest the dearth of minority faculty. Students and professors agreed that minority faculty members are overburdened because they are so few in number.

Harvard's yearly payroll topped $100 million last year, but many of its employees say they expect more from the University than just cold, hard cash.