Despite a first week shortened by the July 4th holiday, University President Lawrence H. Summers’ new administration got under way as the new president began to round out his Mass. Hall staff and continued work on the two high level searches that are among his highest priorities.

And observers said that while there were probably going to be few new initiatives that required Summers’ explicit presidential approval, there was also no sense that the business of the university would be put on hold until Summers gets his bearing.

As part of an effort to mold Summers’ support staff to fit his needs and work style, Marne Levine was expected to be named to the new position of chief of staff as early as today.

The chief of staff is designed to help focus staff resources on the President’s agenda, organize his workload, and coordinate relations with other branches of the administration.

Until last week, Levine assisted Summers at the Brookings Institute, the Washington think-tank where Summers spent six months following his government service.

Levine first worked closely with Summers when she was a deputy assistant secretary at the Treasury Department while summers was deputy secretary and later secretary of the department. She was involved in the repeal of the Glass-Steagal banking act, one of Summers’ major accomplishments, as well as some of the other legislative victories the department claims.

The chief of staff position—the first such position in recent memory—is an addition to the Mass. Hall staff. Jacqueline A. O’Neill will continue to serve as Staff Director, a position she held under Summers’ predecessor Neil L. Rudenstine. O’Neill said that she was supportive of the idea of the new position and said it reflected “the professionalization of academia” that has occurred over the past ten years, where professional staff support and preparation is a must.

O’Neill said that given what she has seen of Summers so far, she thinks the chief of staff will serve as a facilitator of consultation rather than a control on access to the president.