Harvard College to Combine Four Offices Into New Office of Student Services

By Leah J. Teichholtz, Crimson Staff Writer May 6, 2022

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Harvard College will combine four existing offices into a new Office of Student Services beginning July 1, Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana announced in a Tuesday email to Harvard affiliates.

The new office will combine the existing Accessible Education Office, the Housing Office, the Office of Academic Integrity and Student Conduct, and the Office of the Registrar. Current Registrar of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael P. Burke will serve as the first dean of the OSS, per the announcement.

In the email, Khurana wrote that the four units “currently work close together” and their combination will help the College advance its goals of “organizational alignment.”

“By realigning these units, we will have the opportunity to synchronize interdependent functions and deadlines, create functionality that reduces logistical steps, and decrease the number of barriers for our students, faculty, and staff to navigate,” Khurana wrote.

The Accessible Education Office currently provides academic accommodations for students in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences with disabilities, while the Office of the Registrar manages course registration, student records, and tuition billing. The new OSS will also encompass the Housing Office and the Office of Academic Integrity and Student Conduct, which includes the Community Council, the Administrative Board, and the Honor Council.

In anticipation of Burke’s departure, Harvard will announce a new FAS registrar soon, Khurana wrote. Burke has also served as interim leader of the Office of Academic Integrity and Student Conduct since last summer.

In the email, Khurana thanked the staff of the four offices which will now fall under the OSS for their “extraordinary work,” citing the challenges of the pandemic over the past two years.

“I have the incredible privilege of regularly working with colleagues in each of these units, and I continue to draw inspiration from them every day,” Khurana wrote.

—Staff writer Leah J. Teichholtz can be reached at leah.teichholtz@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @LeahTeichholtz.