The three-year plan will be a hurdle for departments not accustomed to planning so far in advance.
“I recognize that this will be a challenge for every department,” Kirby wrote.
“It’s going to be a nuisance,” agreed Jasanoff, who said that as department chair he would be responsible for the planning.
Kirby wrote in his letter that he hoped “department chairs will have the full cooperation” of their colleagues, who will most likely need to step in to teach basic courses and fill administrative positions left empty under the new more lenient leave policy.
“It’s obviously a trade-off,” Jasanoff said of the new policy. “But you can’t be substandard. People expect Harvard to be at the head of the pack.”
—Staff writer Margaretta E. Homsey can be reached at homsey@fas.harvard.edu.