The vice-president’s job involves working on national, state, and local fronts, and those Summers has consulted said he is looking for a candidate whose experience combines all three areas.

Paul S. Grogan who held the position from January 1999 until last week, brought a local focus to an office that had previously concentrated more on the national scene.

Harvard’s behind-the-scenes land grab in Allston stretched town-gown relations with Boston. Grogan’s short tenure was marked by a concerted effort to improve these relations.

Now with the bulk of the Allston planning still to be finalized and Harvard’s purchase of the Watertown Arsenal property raising hackles, the local connection remains an important qualification.

In a final search, Summers was expected to meet this week with candidates for Harvard’s athletic director position. Three finalists for the job visited Cambridge this week to meet with deans and officials.

Beyond the personnel searches, no major initiatives were expected to be in store for Summers for the time being.

Observers said that while Summers was delving into the details of his job, few immediate issues required his final say before this fall.

While there is no conscious effort to go easy on the new president, they said, there was a sense that the first priority should be in bringing the president up to speed on what is being worked on and what is in the pipeline for a later date.