A bright spot in Knowles’ report was his revelation that FAS ended the most recent fiscal year with a $4.9 million surplus. The resources panel predicted in January that the school would face a $40.7 million shortfall in FY 2006.

But that black ink might be a red herring—the surplus appears to stem from stalled initiatives rather than the Faculty’s fiscal fortunes. "[S]everal major projects were delayed or deferred and a number of new faculty recruitments were not completed," Knowles wrote.

Reached at his home last night, Kirby said he hadn’t yet read yesterday’s report and declined to comment.

A ‘FOUND OPPORTUNITY’

It remains to be seen how the Faculty will deal with the structural deficit, which will require a long-term fix, Knowles said.

He said that tapping the $13.2 billion endowment more aggressively won’t solve the problem on its own.

The dean wrote that decapitalization—withdrawing more money from the endowment—would lead to an infusion of funds that are a "short-term solution to a long-term need."

For all his words of caution, Knowles insisted that the benefits of more professors and expanded facilities were worth the deficits on the horizon.

And he said that his 12-month term amounts to a "found opportunity for open and sustained discussion about the Faculty’s future." He said he will leave most major financial decisions to his "less impermanent successor."

Much of Knowles’ letter was akin to a tutorial on the Faculty’s finances, laying out information that, he said, professors have lacked in past debates over financial priorities.

"We’re talking but not understanding each other," he said. "What I’ve hoped to do is to improve the recognition and understanding of the discussions that will necessarily go on in the coming months and years."

—Staff writer Evan H. Jacobs can be reached at ehjacobs@fas.harvard.edu.
—Staff writer Anton S. Troianovski can be reached at atroian@fas.harvard.edu.