Kidd also expanded CCL membership to include more students and representatives from the organizations she oversees. This, Kidd says, makes the committee better informed and spurs communication between the various groups she supervises.

For their part, several directors of those organizations say they feel involved and well-represented in University Hall.

“I’ll tell you honestly that when the management changes first came into place a year ago, I was worried, ‘What does it mean about the arts that we’re now reporting here instead of there?’” OFA Director Jack Megan says. “Those concerns have evaporated. We have someone who engages actively in thinking about the arts...and fosters an environment in which there’s very open dialogue among students, administrators and faculty who are on that committee.”

Kidd’s colleagues say increased communication was crucial to earning the respect of other officials in her first year.

“There’s more connection with departments for students involved, and a better understanding of what the programs that students are running are really about,” Swift says. “She works very closely with those that report directly to her.”

SIMPLIFYING A BUREAUCRACY

Soon after she began, Kidd immediately undertook the streamlining of the student activities office, which is responsible for supervising extracurriculars and guiding the process of starting new ones.

“The learning curve is huge,” Kidd says. “I feel as if however ragtail we looked in the beginning, we’ve been able to do what students needed to get activities going.”

To serve as the face of the student activities office, Kidd hired Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin. Thomas A. Dingman ’67, a longtime associate dean of the College, calls McLoughlin a “very good appointment.”

McLoughlin and Kidd set to work formulating a process to clarify expectations and procedures for student groups.

The two revised the student activities section in Harvard’s Handbook for Students, and rewrote the forms for requesting beverage authorization teams and registering student organizations in order to make the procedures more transparent.

“She’s worked relentlessly to get more process in place and give good help” to students wanting to start new clubs, Dingman says.

Kidd also plans to reevaluate how and why the College approves student groups, focusing on eliminating redundancy and wasted resources—the same goals she had years ago for PBHA.

“I remain frustrated...do we have any threshold at all to be recognized as a student activity?” Kidd says. “I want more clarity. By letting people start new groups, rather than work within established structures, I’m not sure we’re teaching the right lesson.”

As the Hilles Library conversion moves into its next phase, Kidd will be part of the group implementing recommendations to add student space in the building. She will also work with students to organize a potential AIDS benefit concert which could feature big name acts like Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews or U2’s Bono, she says.