And even though it might ultimately be up to other administrators to implement the Dean’s vision, they do have deference for it. Outside of the College Dean’s cabinet of advisors, Dingman said, the Dean’s opinions are heavily acknowledged and respected in University Hall. In particular, he added, the College Dean acts as a “champion” for the College within FAS.

In many cases, the Dean’s advocacy on behalf of the College takes the shape of “working groups” or “task forces” that charge groups of faculty and administrators with investigating particular issues, according to longtime Adams House resident dean Sharon Howell.

“The power of the dean is to say ‘I’d like you, you, and you to come in and talk about this, and think about what to do about it, and make recommendations to me, and I will make a decision about what we’re going to do going forward,’” said Howell, citing Hammonds’s Working Group on Student Stress as an example.

Administrators said that throughout her five-year tenure, Hammonds was known to be passionate about inclusion and wanted to ensure that all students felt like part of the community. In fall 2010, she convened a working group to study the experiences and needs of members of the bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, and queer community at Harvard. That working group recommended the establishment of a BGLTQ campus space and the hiring of a full-time staff person to lead it—recommendations that translated into the now year-and-a-half-old Office of BGLTQ Student Life and the director position held by Vanidy “Van” Bailey.

Administrators said that in this way, the College’s priorities can be shaped by the characteristics of the individuals holding the deanship at the time.

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What Does the Dean Do?

As Howell put it, the College Dean’s power “doesn’t necessarily always involve expenditures, but it does involve shifting culture, shifting policy.”

—Staff writer Michelle Denise L. Ferreol can be reached at michelle.ferreol@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @michiferreol.

—Staff writer Jared T. Lucky can be reached at jared.lucky@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @jared_lucky.