Dean as Prognosticator

Despite the fact that he created a number of new programs during his tenure, Moses foresees a decline in services exclusively designed for first-years in the years after his departure.

"I suspect that level of intense care of freshmen will decrease," Moses says. "Money won't be here for all we do now."

Although he says he is unsure exactly how much, if at all, the budget for first-year programs will have to be cut, Moses predicts that advising will be shielded from the cuts, and that instead potential new programs will bear the brunt.

Moses offers more prognostications about first-year life without his leadership, predicting a trend toward less requirements and more openness.

"I think it's conceivable that some of the freshmen who feel oppressed by so many requirements will be offered some relief," Moses says. "The requirements will be decreased--not by much--to allow freshmen to accomplish other academic things."

"Not just for freshmen, but for everyone, the disciplinary and administrative system will become more open," Moses adds. "This is not just a function of [President-designate] Neil Rudenstine coming, but it enhances what would have happened anyway."

Moses will be replaced by an acting dean, as yet unnamed, next year. Jewett is currently heading up the search for a new dean, and is forming a committee which will make a comprehensive study of the FDO's structure and the needs of first-year students.

"We have no motives in mind for the study," Jewett says. "It's a good time, having a change in deans, to look to see if the organization is working."

Jewett says he plans to study the efficiency of the FDO, but does not plan on cutting programs simply for its own sake. He does concede, however, that budget problems may decrease the likelihood of new programs being formed.

Despite being optimistic about the future of first-year life after Moses leaves, Jewett terms the outgoing dean a "valued colleague and personal friend," and says he regrets Moses's departure.

"A number of innovations, a variety of activities have been made in Moses's time," Jewett says. "I have come to rely on him as one of the most capable people with an unusual personal and administrative style."

For his part, Moses says he is leaving Harvard with both regrets and hope, anticipating the position as Trinity headmaster be fulfilling in ways a dean of student life at a college is not.

Moses has been in contact with Trinity for the past several years, several times running a retreat for the school's seniors that dealt with the realities of college life. As a result, when Trinity officials called about the vacant headmaster post, Moses says, he agreed to be considered for the job.

"Fourteen years is fourteen years is fourteen years. I think it's time for a change," Moses says. "I don't think I could leave for a better place."

"I'm leaving because I want to grow and embrace an entire educational institution," Moses adds. "I want to be in touch with every aspect of making a school great, or greater in this case."

'A number of innovations, a number of activities have been made in Moses's time. I have come to rely on him as one of the most capable people with an unusual personal and administrative style.' --Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57