Vice President for Finance Robert H. Scott joined the ranks of departing holdovers from the previous administration last week, announcing his resignation after 17 years at the University.

Harvard's top financial administrator since 1987, Scott, 50, headed the University's budget and accounting offices and was a director of the Harvard Management Company, which oversees Harvard's endowment fund. He was travelling in Scotland when his resignation was announced and could not be reached for comment.

In a prepared statement, Scott said he is leaving his post because "it's time...to move on to something different" and find "new challenges," though he said he has not yet determined what those challenges will be. "I might work for another not-for-profit organization, I might work for the banking and financial services industries, I might become a consultant," he said.

Prior to his appointment as vice president for finance, Scott held several administrative positions at M.I.T. and Harvard, and served as Harvard's vice president for administration from 1982 until 1987. His resume lists more than two dozen separate appointments as a management and computer systems consultant to outside organizations during his tenure at Harvard, including Stanford, Northwestern and Columbia Universities.

Scott's departure comes at a critical time for the University, just months before the expected announcement of a $2 billion fund drive, and following several years of budget deficits. It means that the University must fill two vacant vice presidencies at once, following former Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs John H. Shattuck's move to join the Clinton administration last spring.

Scott was one of a dwindling number of high-ranking vestiges of the administration of former Presi- dent Derek C. Bok. After he leaves, only two offive vice presidents appointed by Bok will remain:Vice President for Administration Sally H.Zeckhauser and Vice President for Alumni Affairsand Development Fred L. Glimp '50.

President Neil L. Rudenstine, who has said inthe past that he did not assume office with theintent of initiating a large administrativeturnover, said he was not surprised by Scott'sdecision to leave Harvard.

"When I arrived, Bob alerted me to the factthat for a year or two he had been thinking aboutwhat his next step might be," Rudenstine said."We've talked on and off, and agreed that he wouldcall that shot and that when he felt the time hadcome he would let me know."

The president added that he believes hisadministration still includes an appropriatebalance of seasoned veterans and fresh recruits.

But Zeckhauser said Scott may have beeninfluenced by a feeling that Rudenstine shouldhave a chance to appoint his own team. "There maybe some of that," Zeckhauser said. "And, after awhile you feel there is only so much you can do. Ithink it was a combination of those things."

Both Zeckhauser and Rudenstine issued effusivepraise of their colleague, with the presidentcalling Scott "absolutely superb" and "the bestfinancial vice president around."

"He's done a remarkable job and there's ampletestimony to that in terms of the financial healthof the institution," Rudenstine said.

But Scott has his critics as well, most notablyamong Harvard's unionized labor force. During histerm as vice president for administration, Scottwas a leader of the University's opposition to thecreation of the Harvard Union of Clerical andTechnical Workers (HUCTW).

"With Scott, or those he influenced, it wasdifficult to tell whether he was always interestedin reaching an agreement [during negotiations],"said HUCTW President Donene M. Williams. "I thinkhe failed to take into account the total impact ofthe decentralization of the University on bothworkers and the learning experience of students,and that the entire University is not just about abottom line."

Williams said Scott's emphasis ondecentralization created a sense of "isolation"among Harvard's various schools and departmentsand caused workers to feel as though theUniversity was less one institution than adisjointed array of many different employers.

But Zeckhauser defended Scott as anadministrator who recognized the importance ofHarvard's tried and true philosophy of"every-tub-on-its-own-bottom."

"When people look for the University to speakwith one voice, that's not the reality of whatHarvard is," Zeckhauser said, adding however, thatScott was pleased to get away from dealing withlabor matters to concentrating on finances.

"I don't think he ever fancied himself a humanresource type of person," she said.Crimson File PhotoROBERT H. SCOTT