New Appointment Key To Rudenstine Vision

President Neil L. Rudenstine's appointment of a provost this afternoon will begin a critical transformation of Harvard's central administration.

No one--including Rudenstine himself--is exactly sure what the appointment will mean for the future of the University. The new administrator will be the first Harvard provost since 1953.

Some things are clear. University observers agree the provost is now a logistical necessity: Rudenstine does not have the time to be everywhere at once.

The provost will work closely with the president and assume responsibility for University-wide academic planning.

The addition of a provost bolsters the central administration as it trims the University's $1 billion operating budget and continues its massive academic planning effort in preparation for a multi-billion dollar fund drive.

The likely choice, Wells Professor of Political Economy Jerry R. Green, is said to have the grasp of economics and the youth, at age 45, to help lead Harvard through the fund drive and into the next century.

Rudenstine has emphasized since his appointmentlast spring as Harvard's 26th president that hewants the various parts of the University to drawon each other's strengths. "Less pluribus, moreunum," the slogan goes.

Today's appointment fleshes out Rudenstine'sfluid rhetoric. In an open letter to the Harvardcommunity last October, the president explainedhis argument for hiring a provost. Rudenstine saidhis second-in-command will plan and coordinateinterdisciplinary initiatives and programsinvolving more than one faculty.

Such collaboration might prove cost efficientand productive in areas such as environmentalstudies, international studies, health care policyand public school education, Rudenstine said.

A Coordinated Approach

The provost will also "employ a coordinatedapproach" to academic support services such ascomputing, library services and human resources.

Beyond these responsibilities, it's anyone'sguess how the provost will shape the new post.

The consensus among University officials isthat the provost will have a remarkable ability toshape his own job.

The academic planning initiative and the funddrive will clearly occupy much of the provost'stime. But as one faculty member said, the job isstill "a rather nebulous concept."

Rudenstine himself said in an interviewyesterday that the provost's role in the tenureprocess has yet to be determined.

"I think that the provost involvement [in thetenure process] would depend very much on theextent to which the other kinds of issues theprovost is dealing with allow for time to beinvolved," he said. "I would hope that the provostwould sit in regularly."

The provost will formally take office July 1,but will have an impact on the University almostimmediately, Rudenstine said.

'More Than Enough to Do'

"I think there's more than enough to do, bothin terms of academic planning, in terms ofthinking about how to get a hold of the budgetproblem and a whole range of things," Rudenstinesaid. "I think we'll begin to find more energy andmore capacity to move ahead on a lot of theseissues almost right away.

Rudenstine has emphasized since his appointmentlast spring as Harvard's 26th president that hewants the various parts of the University to drawon each other's strengths. "Less pluribus, moreunum," the slogan goes.

Today's appointment fleshes out Rudenstine'sfluid rhetoric. In an open letter to the Harvardcommunity last October, the president explainedhis argument for hiring a provost. Rudenstine saidhis second-in-command will plan and coordinateinterdisciplinary initiatives and programsinvolving more than one faculty.

Such collaboration might prove cost efficientand productive in areas such as environmentalstudies, international studies, health care policyand public school education, Rudenstine said.

A Coordinated Approach

The provost will also "employ a coordinatedapproach" to academic support services such ascomputing, library services and human resources.

Beyond these responsibilities, it's anyone'sguess how the provost will shape the new post.

The consensus among University officials isthat the provost will have a remarkable ability toshape his own job.

The academic planning initiative and the funddrive will clearly occupy much of the provost'stime. But as one faculty member said, the job isstill "a rather nebulous concept."

Rudenstine himself said in an interviewyesterday that the provost's role in the tenureprocess has yet to be determined.

"I think that the provost involvement [in thetenure process] would depend very much on theextent to which the other kinds of issues theprovost is dealing with allow for time to beinvolved," he said. "I would hope that the provostwould sit in regularly."

The provost will formally take office July 1,but will have an impact on the University almostimmediately, Rudenstine said.

'More Than Enough to Do'

"I think there's more than enough to do, bothin terms of academic planning, in terms ofthinking about how to get a hold of the budgetproblem and a whole range of things," Rudenstinesaid. "I think we'll begin to find more energy andmore capacity to move ahead on a lot of theseissues almost right away.