Letters Archive

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Letter from Tom Vautin, October 2009

Dear VPA Colleagues,

Since I assumed the role of acting vice president for administration in July, I have had the opportunity to chat with many of you and exchange ideas on many topics.  I am very impressed and proud of all you are doing to maintain our high standards across the University.  Thank you very much for your commitment and for your leadership by example.

You have undoubtedly been hearing much lately about the upcoming flu season.  Harvard, like most colleges and universities, has seen early cases of influenza-like illness – most likely the new strain called H1N1 or “Swine Flu”. The H1N1 flu virus is now worldwide, but fortunately the illness currently appears to be no more severe than the seasonal flu, which typically arrives in our area during the late fall and winter.  Over the past few years the University has done much to prepare for such a situation. I encourage you to stay informed about the University’s preparations and policies by checking our website at http://harvard.edu/h1n1.  Most importantly, please consider getting a free flu shot for the seasonal flu from the University Health Services, and stay informed about the availability and plans for the H1N1 vaccine.

As you probably know, we now have a new executive vice president.  Katherine (Katie) Lapp is coming to Harvard from the University of California, and she will officially begin work on Tuesday, October 13.   As executive vice president, she will be the University’s chief administrative officer.  All of HHR (Harvard Human Resources), FAD (Financial Administration), and VPA will report to her, as will the new Harvard Planning and Development Group that has been proposed.

A number of administrative questions will be waiting for Katie when she arrives, and the issue of how to organize VPA as part of her executive management team is one of them.  As you know, I will be retiring later this year, and I will be working with Katie and the VPA directors to plan the best possible organizational model for VPA and her team before I leave.  I will keep you posted as those plans develop.

Finally, I am asking for your help.  Across the board, Harvard made dramatic cuts in expenses last year in response to the global financial crisis.  Many of the reductions – particularly the loss of staff – have certainly been difficult.  Our clients in the schools and departments across campus are still feeling the effects of this, and those that are particularly dependent on endowment funding will almost certainly need to reduce expenses even further.  This will affect the VPA departments in that we will need to hold rates as low as possible, and we will likely see reduced revenues.  This means we will need to find ways to be even more productive and efficient.

Thus, I give you this challenge: Do you ever notice things that could be done better here at Harvard?  Do you have ideas for making our operations in VPA more efficient, and do you see opportunities for additional savings?  I would be very grateful to hear what you have to say.  Please drop me a line at vpa_feedback@harvard.edu, or just click on the link at the bottom of this page.  Please be assured that no idea is too small or too unusual to warrant serious consideration.

Thank you very much for all you are doing.

Care to comment? vpa_feedback@harvard.edu.