The walls of Judith H. Kidd’s new office in University Hall are bare.

Kidd, who is the new acting associate dean of the College for student affairs, moved into her new office only a couple of months ago after Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 named her to the post.

Much like her office walls, Kidd’s term as associate dean is a blank slate. With fresh faces sitting in some of the most powerful seats in University Hall after the exit of several prominent deans last year, and with the College on the brink of a sweeping review of the undergraduate curriculum, she appears to have plenty of room to make her mark on student affairs at Harvard.

But that imprint may be far from permanent.

With a potentially brief term—Gross has dubbed her an “acting” dean whose future role depends on the outcome of the curricular review—Kidd has a limited ability to effect long-term change.

For now it seems that Kidd, lauded for her managerial experience and know-how, has been put into place to keep the student side of the administration running smoothly while Gross spearheads the curricular review.

Topping her agenda as she embarks upon this unclear mission is streamlining administration of student activities while making sure individual student groups are kept in check.

According to many who deal with her, Kidd is a good choice for the job.

Her years as a College administrator and director of Philips Brooks House (PBH), a post she has held since 1996 and will continue in this year, have primed her for a role that will demand considerable efficiency and creativity.

“I think she cares a lot about students at Harvard,” says Daniel A. Michalow ’04, a director of Harvard’s Habitat for Humanity. “I think she’s been really awesome. She’s been really great to Habitat, she’s extraordinarily reasonable and helpful to us. I think she is really supportive of students working hard todo something well.”

“I was not surprised that she was picked,” he says.

Kidd Gloves

While she is still a fledgling presence in University Hall, Kidd has at least one general goal: keeping a closer eye on student groups—and the administrators who work with and for them.

A main goal is increasing the frequency of the meetings of the Committee on College Life (CCL), a student-faculty body charged with making sure student groups abide by College rules. As a committee member herself, she says she had a sense that the committee did not meet often enough to catch potential issues before they became problems.

CCL had a turbulent last year under the leadership of Kidd’s predecessor David P. Illingworth ’71, when a provision in the Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Fellowship’s constitution sparked widespread debate on whether student groups—particularly religious organizations—should be allowed to require certain doctrinal beliefs of their leaders.

Ultimately, CCL members voted on the issue via e-mail, as the committee met so infrequently. This did not sit well with everyone.

This year, though, Kidd says she has scheduled five meetings for the CCL—three more than last year.

“I think it’s a huge improvement,” says Jennifer S. Axsom ’04, who served on CCL with Kidd, and had said last year that the Christian fellowship matter should have been resolved more quickly.

“We will review student groups more regularly so that they don’t get into that limbo,” Kidd says, although she adds that she does not wish to second-guess Illingworth’s decisions.

“I think we evolved…with a somewhat similar ethos as to how we interact with students,” Kidd says of Illingworth. “Perhaps David is a bit more conversational.”

Kidd has also invited officials from some other offices to work with CCL, and says she plans to work “very closely” with the Undergraduate Council.

Additionally, Kidd wants to be a catalyst for communication between the multitude of offices that even tangentially affect student affairs.

She has already put into place a committee of six administrators who will meet regularly to discuss student services and activities. The group, which Kidd will chair, draws together the directors of the Harvard Foundation, the Office for the Arts, the Bureau of Study Council and other organizations.

But the mandate of the group is ambiguous, even to its members.

“I assume the initial effort will be a smooth transition to the new administrative structure of the College,” says Charles P. Ducey, Director of the Bureau of Study Council. “Dean Gross felt that College administration should be divided into different spheres, and this grouping of offices seems a natural and coherent one, as all its members focus on student services and activities.”

New Kidd on the Block

Gross says that the curricular review is his number-one priority, which has led some to worry that he will let student affairs fall to the wayside. Gross will not have as much time to devote to student affairs as his predecessor, former Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68, and that is where Kidd is meant to pick up the slack.

She is, by title, the successor to Illingworth, who oversaw student groups and departed at the end of last year. But in addition to most of Illingworth’s responsibilities, Kidd will take reports from the heads of several offices that used to report to Lewis.

While Kidd may be a highly effective manager, students and administrators say she has two tools that will help ease her administrative burden: committees and delegation.

There are a number of committees and offices within the College bureaucracy that will serve as liaisons between Kidd and undergraduates to keep her informed of the nitty-gritty details of student life.

One of Kidd’s first orders of business involves assigning responsibilities to others to make her formidable job more manageable.

Over the summer, she has been relying on the aid of Coordinator of Student Activities Susan T. Cooke to help her communicate with student group leaders.

But she is currently searching for an assistant dean to provide permanent assistance with overseeing extracurricular organizations.

She has already made the first cuts in this selection process.

Gross says he will hire a sizeable staff to work under Kidd and support her job. But as he attempts to reorganize the College administration, it seems likely that Kidd will have to shoulder many responsibilities herself.

“It may be that she looks for increased support in her office,” says Associate Dean of the College Thomas A. Dingman ’67, who will work with Kidd on many student issues as head of residential life. “But I think she’ll have to get used to having more balls in the air at one time.”

As someone who says she recognizes the value of delegating authority, Kidd believes the way Gross has structured her job is not a signal that student life is undervalued.

“I get the message of a very, very intelligent man who is trying very, very hard to focus on those things he can do best,” she says of Gross’ strategic moves. “It would be my guess that the day-to-day life of students will not be changed.”

Kidd Wonder

The question remains whether Kidd’s new, more mangerial role will affect her day-to-day interactions with the student groups she has closely advised in the past.

At PBH, Kidd has been known for her direct, personal style of management: she likes weekly meetings and often stops by peoples’ offices to see how things are going.

“She is accessible regularly for students and staff and responds to e-mails immediately,” says Meg Swift, director of the Public Service Network, an organization in PBH. “She is very hands-on and really enjoys being a part of conversations led by student groups. She has a great deal of respect for students on campus and is always incredibly supportive of their efforts.”

Student groups like Habitat for Humanity, accustomed to regular contact with Kidd, might find that the director-dean, who will have to grapple with matters of greater scope, won’t have time for them.

“I really hope that Kidd stays open,” says Progressive Student Labor Movement member Madeleine S. Elfenbein ’04. “In my experience with her at [the Phillips Brooks House Association] she has been great with that. I just hope that her position doesn’t prevent her from doing what she’s done well in the past.”

Kidd says that PBH-affiliated groups may have less face-time with her, but that she will also get the chance to meet more students than before. “I will be relying even more heavily on the excellent staff at PBH to keep things running smoothly,” Kidd says.

“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.