One question students and staff have raised is the future of the PBHA summer programs. For the summer programs to have sufficient funding, an application to Associated Grant Makers must be sent in by the end of December. Johnson would usually sign the application, but since his job terminates on December 31, he will not sign it this year, he said.

Lewis said not to worry.

"We're not going to let the problem of the signature get in the way of letting that go forward," he said.

Lewis's Choice

The vast majority of students at PBHA have said they supported Johnson for the job of assistant dean, and they have expressed their opinions over the past few months by letters and recommendations to the search committee.

Many have accused Kidd of a lack of experience working with students--since she has been involved mainly with grant-making and fund-raising during her time at Boston University, the Bank of Boston and City Year, a Boston service organization where she currently works.

Kidd said her experience working with students reaches back to her undergraduate days at Jackson--the former women's college at Tufts--and her graduate years at the University of Chicago, where she was involved in tutoring.

As director of corporate contributions at the Bank of Boston in 1984, Kidd said she spent a lot of time working with PBHA programs.

Lewis declined to comment on his reasons for picking Kidd over Johnson, merely reiterating that the search process was thorough.

"We did a lot of checking on all the candidates that were under consideration," the dean said. "It was a very representative search committee."

Johnson speculated last week that the administration might still hold a grudge against him for his recommendation in 1993 to add PBHA staff members in the face of a University deficit.

But Skocpol said it was likely that no one thing prevented Johnson from getting the job, adding that she took student input very seriously in her consultation with Lewis about the candidates.

"Boy, did I take very seriously the student opinions that were in the documentations--not just the opinions, but the reasoning," Skocpol said.

Student-Faculty Committee

Skocpol emphasized that student voices will play an important role on the public service committee she chairs. Pan and Elizabeth C. Finger '96, coordinator of the House and Neighborhood Development program (HAND), will be two of the students on Skocpol's committee. The third has yet to be selected.