“Direct student contact will be part of both jobs,” she says. “I hope not to curtail my work with students. In fact, I hope that through the work in the office of student activities I will be meeting with a wider variety of student leaders.”

Michalow expects Kidd to remain in touch despite the heightened demands of her new job.

“She is a good and reasonable person, and I think she cares a lot about students at Harvard,” he says. “I’m pretty sure she’ll make time to meet us.”

Some student leaders say that maintaining active ties to undergraduates is essential to earning their trust and being an effective dean in charge of student life.

“Everything will fail if she doesn’t have a lot of contact with students and have a presence,” says Undergraduate Council President Rohit Chopra ’04.

But for now, the most important fact for Kidd may be that the clock is ticking.

Gross and Kidd both say that she will remain in University Hall for at least a year, but that it is still undecided whether she will remain for longer than that.

Gross said Kidd’s technical title is “acting” associate dean, because there was no search conducted for her. It also means that her stint as a director-dean has a time limit.

In the long run, though, things are still up in the air.

“I have to see how things work out,” Gross says.

Kidd says the curricular review and the success of the interactions of the different offices will probably decide how long she remains in her post.

Gross said in July that he will probably conduct a search at the end of this school year to fill whichever post Kidd decides to abandon.

Until then, Kidd, along with her senior staff, will have to experiment with managerial structure—and make sure that students don’t get lost in the shuffle.

Dingman says Kidd’s ability to lead and work in groups will serve her well as dean.

“She starts with a real team instinct, which is a recipe for success,” he says. “She is prepared to delegate, but will maintain appropriate oversight. She is wise, and she is an excellent listener.”

—Staff writer Alexander J. Blenkinsopp can be reached at blenkins@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Rebecca D. O’Brien can be reached at robrien@fas.harvard.edu.