"I think we're talking about the right things, [but] I'm not sure we're there yet," he said. "On education and job training we still have a lot of work to do."

Grogan said current proposals include a plan to provide job training and professional development for community leaders in the public and nonprofit sectors, a project that will be spearheaded by the Harvard Business School and the Kennedy School of Government.

The Graduate School of Education will work with Boston and Cambridge school systems, and the School of Public Health will help lead any initiatives focusing on residents' health concerns.

"We've been consulting with deans and faculty...particularly where a single school is going to play a leading role," Grogan said. "We're working very closely with the two mayors and their staffs, city councillors, nonprofit leaders [and] school systems."

The three or four initiatives will be implemented over the next couple of years.

Harvard's community efforts come at a time of unusually poor relations between Harvard and its home cities.

The University attracted widespread criticism for its secret purchase of large tracts of land in Allston in 1997, and the current Cambridge City Council has adopted an explicitly anti-Harvard stance, criticizing the University for its failure to address residents' concerns.