Now, observers said that there is no single problem that promises to dominate the vice president’s agenda.

On the community relations front, Allston development will need continued attention if it is to proceed smoothly.

Federal funding is always an issue. Harvard’s representative and lobbyist in Washington, Kevin Casey, said that while President Bush’s proposed FY 2002 budget includes increases for biomedical research funding, it freezes levels for non-medical research.

Rowe saw communications as a possible stress of the office under the new administration. Summers, he said, has a much higher profile than outgoing President Neil L. Rudenstine—“he’s good copy,” he quipped.

The media is going to be more interested in Summers, at least in the beginning, and Summers is going to be concerned about Harvard’s institutional profile, Rowe said.

Corlette said that she wasn’t sure how much of a focus Summers wanted to put on himself or how much he wants a bully pulpit. But she said that there is work to be done on how Harvard is perceived beyond Cambridge and said that communications is becoming “more and more of a concern.”

—Staff writer David H. Gellis can be reached at gellis@fas.harvard.edu.