Harvard President Alan Garber to Convene University-Wide Faculty Advisory Council

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 will convene a University-wide council of faculty advisers — a move that comes after months of advocacy from faculty who want an expanded role in school-wide decisions.

The advisory body, which Garber announced in a Friday afternoon email to faculty, will comprise 15 to 20 professors nominated by the deans of Harvard’s schools. Garber did not say when he expects the council to first meet or when he will name its members.

In his email, Garber acknowledged the ongoing push from faculty members to gain a larger voice at the University — including the effort to form a faculty senate.

“I recognize that discussions about a Faculty Senate and other forms of faculty representation are under way,” he wrote. “Because regular input from faculty throughout the University on existing and emerging issues is an urgent need, I thought it important to assemble the Council even as those discussions continue.”

Garber previously convened a council of faculty advisors when he served as University provost, and the group engaged faculty members from across the University in making decisions.

The announcement on Friday seems designed to placate faculty who have complained that they wield little authority in University-wide decisions or that Harvard’s top leaders lack a systematic mechanism for hearing faculty input.

But the announcement is unlikely to deter the faculty who have led the charge to create a University-wide senate. Garber’s Faculty Advisory Council would not have much power of its own, instead serving as a sounding board for the president, provost, and other University leaders.

University Professor Danielle S. Allen, who has helmed the faculty senate initiative, wrote in a statement that while she was happy with Garber recognizing the voice of the faculty, the effort to plan a faculty senate will move “as expeditiously as possible so that the university will have the strongest possible governance options on the table.”

So far, five of Harvard’s nine faculty divisions — including the Faculty of Arts and Sciences — have voted to form a planning body tasked with considering whether and how to convene a faculty senate. But efforts have slowed in some of Harvard’s most powerful professional schools, including the Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School.

The faculty advisory council will meet for a two-year “trial period,” Garber wrote, after which the University will reassess its effectiveness and determine whether to modify its structure. The trial period will likely coincide with Garber’s final months in office as his tenure is expected to end after the 2026-2027 academic year.

—Staff writer Tilly R. Robinson can be reached at tilly.robinson@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @tillyrobin.

—Staff writer Neil H. Shah can be reached at neil.shah@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @neilhshah15.