Associate Director – FAS Office Academic Culture and Community

Company Description

By working at Harvard University, you join a vibrant community that advances Harvard's world‑changing mission in meaningful ways, inspires innovation and collaboration, and builds skills and expertise. We are dedicated to creating a diverse and welcoming environment where everyone can thrive.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) is the historic heart of Harvard University. It is the home of Harvard’s undergraduate program (Harvard College, founded in 1636) as well as all of Harvard’s Ph.D. programs (the Harvard Kenneth

C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, founded in 1872), Harvard Athletics and the Division of Continuing Education. The 40 academic departments and 30+ centers of the FAS support a community unparalleled in its academic excellence across the broadest range of liberal arts and sciences disciplines. Together, the FAS seeks to foster an environment of ambition, curiosity and shared commitment to knowledge and truth that elicits excellence from all members of our community and prepares the next generation of leaders through a transformative educational experience.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences Office for Academic Culture and Community (FAS OACC) was formally launched in Summer 2025 to drive and strengthen engagement across the FAS’s dynamic community of students, faculty, staff, researchers, and affiliates. To advance the FAS’s commitment to: “fostering an environment of ambition, curiosity, and a shared commitment to knowledge and truth that elicits excellence from members of our community and prepares the next generation of leaders through a transformative educational experience,” the OACC will envision, plan, consult, implement, and curate a suite of cross‑cutting initiatives, programs, workshops, placemaking experiences, and visual culture renewal projects that foster connections, deepen engagement and dialogue, steward cross‑institutional partnerships, and employ collaborative, creative, and responsive approaches to enhance academic culture, community dynamics, and the overarching campus ethos.

Reporting to the Executive Director in the FAS Office for Academic Culture and Community, the Associate Director will support cross‑divisional planning and implementation of community building and engagement efforts within and across the FAS’s three academic divisions (Arts and Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences) and their aligned units, departments and centers. Through responsive and community‑centered consultation, program development and facilitation, and strategic engagement with faculty, students, and staff, the Associate Director will serve as a critical liaison between OACC and the academic divisions.

In addition to stewarding and enhancing cross‑divisional community dynamics, the Associate Director will work collaboratively with the broader OACC team to develop and implement community‑wide programs, workshops, symposia, colloquia, and other co‑sponsored and special events.

• Act as a primary liaison to Department leadership, Division leadership, and the FAS OACC leadership team regarding organizational (department/center level) community obstacles or challenges.
• Support unit/department–level interventions via attendance of various meetings, regular email communications, documentation of efforts, consultation with Divisional/FAS OACC leadership, and partnership with Divisions, Departments, and Centers.
• Provide direct support to academic divisions:
• Meet regularly with the Academic Divisions to understand and support academic culture and community‑building goals and activities, data evaluation and assessment strategies, support related programming and efforts, and recommend new or modified programming or efforts as needed.
• Based on input from Division/Department/Unit/Center leaders and climate survey results, assist the academic leadership and FAS OACC with identifying opportunities or gaps and setting long‑term vision and goals for the department designed to foster engagement and deepen academic culture…