FAS Workforce Planning: An Update on Notifications

Dear colleagues,

We are now entering the next phase of our administrative transition. Tomorrow, Harvard College staff will learn how their roles fit within the new model.

By the end of this week, every College staff member whose role is affected by the transition will have an individual notification conversation. In these conversations, some colleagues will learn that their roles are changing, while others will learn the difficult news that their roles are ending. These are deeply consequential decisions, and they were not made lightly.

We want to be clear about how this process will unfold so that no one will be caught off guard. Before any individual conversation takes place, all College staff will hear from FAS HR with the information and guidance they need. After these notification conversations are complete, Dean Deming will write directly to all College staff. 

These conversations will involve colleagues whose dedication and expertise have strengthened the College, in some cases over many years. For those whose roles are ending, this is a loss of work that has mattered deeply to them. For all of us, it is a loss of colleagues and friends whose absence will be felt across the FAS. Our highest priority is that our colleagues are treated with care, dignity, and respect.

We know this has been a long and difficult process for our community. We are now entering the hardest stage of this work. We will write again to the FAS community as we move to the next wave of notifications, and at that time we will share more information about which units will be affected. We are moving forward carefully, in alignment with our legal and labor obligations, while also recognizing the real toll this extended uncertainty is taking on everyone.

We have asked a great deal of the FAS community, and we know many of you are feeling this deeply. If you need support during this time, resources are available to you now and throughout this transition. Please visit the FAS HR website to learn more about the support available through the Employee Assistance Program, Office of Work/Life, and the Thich Nhat Hanh Center for Mindfulness.

Thank you for the care you show one another and for everything you continue to do for our students, faculty, and staff.

Sincerely,

Hopi and Warren

Hopi Hoekstra
Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
C. Y. Chan Professor of Arts and Science
Xiaomeng Tong and Yu Chen Professor of Life Sciences

Warren Petrofsky
Dean of Administration and Finance
Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences