Policies & Reports

Manuscript TextNumerous policies and principles govern academic life at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. These include FAS, Harvard University, state, and federal guidelines. For a selective overview, please see Chapter 2 ("General Policies, Principles, and Deadlines") and Chapter 3 ("Absences, Leaves, and Extensions of Appointment") in the FAS Appointment and Promotion Handbook.

Additional policies and reports are available below, by category and alphabetically. This list is not comprehensive, and policies are subject to change.

Faculty and researchers with questions should contact the assistant dean for faculty affairs in their academic division (the Arts and Humanities, the Social Sciences, Science), the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or for selected College appointments; the FAS Office for Faculty Affairs; or other relevant sources.                                                          

For more information on trends in the FAS faculty, please see the report below:

FAS "Faculty Trends (AY 2021-2022)"

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) is committed to fostering an open and supportive community that promotes learning, teaching, research, and discovery. This commitment includes maintaining a safe and healthy educational and work environment in which no member of the community is, on the basis of sex, including sexual orientation or gender identity, excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination in any University program or activity. Sexual harassment, including sexual violence, is a form of sex discrimination in that it denies an individual equal access to the University’s programs or activities. In order to protect the access of all members of our community to the full range of opportunities and resources provided at Harvard, the FAS has adopted the Interim FAS Policies and Procedures Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment and Other Sexual Misconduct.

If FAS faculty and other University officers learn about a possible incident of sexual harassment, including gender-based harassment, or other sexual misconduct, they have a responsibility to promptly notify the School or Unit Title IX Resource Coordinator, who will determine what steps, if any, to take next. Please read this brochure, "Doing Your Part", as well as the section on "Notice and Confidentiality" below, for more details on this responsibility.

Policy & Procedural Resources:

FAS Title IX Resource Coordinators:

  • See this page for a full list of FAS Title IX Resource Coordinators

Title IX Resource Coordinators for Faculty:

Kwok Yu
Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs (FAS)
kwok_yu@harvard.edu
(617) 495-7483 
University Hall, 111
Harvard Yard
Cambridge, MA 02138

Seth Avakian
Program Officer for Title IX and Professional Conduct (FAS/GSAS)
avakian@fas.harvard.edu
617-495-9583 
University Hall, 414A
Harvard Yard
Cambridge, MA 02138

Danielle Farrell
Program Officer for Title IX and Professional Conduct
farrell@fas.harvard.edu
617-495-0321
University Hall, 414B
Harvard Yard  (and 1414 Massachusetts Ave., 5th Floor)
Cambridge, MA 02138

Johannah Park
Manager of Academic Programs (FAS)
jkpark@fas.harvard.edu
(617) 495-9892
University Hall, 403
Harvard Yard
Cambridge, MA 02138

Nicole Merhill
University Title IX Coordinator
titleix@harvard.edu
(617) 496-0200
Title IX Office
Smith Campus Center, Suite 901, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138

Confidential Resources:

Other Resources:

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity. Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances; requests for sexual favors; and other verbal, nonverbal, graphic, or physical conduct of a sexual nature or based on sexual orientation or gender identity, that satisfies one or more of the following: (1) an employee of the University either explicitly or implicitly conditioning the provision of an aid, benefit, or services of the University, such as an individual’s employment or academic standing (for example, academic evaluation, grades, or advancement) on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct (quid pro quo); quid pro quo sexual harassment can occur whether a person resists and suffers the threatened harm, or the person submits and avoids the threatened harm. Both situations could constitute discrimination on the basis of sex; or (2) unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the University’s education or work programs or activities; or (3) sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking.

Other Sexual Misconduct

Other sexual misconduct is unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity. Other sexual misconduct includes unwelcome sexual advances; requests for sexual favors; and other verbal, nonverbal, graphic, or physical conduct of a sexual nature or based on sexual orientation or gender identity, that satisfies one or more of the following: (1) an employee of the University either explicitly or implicitly conditioning the provision of an aid, benefit, or services of the University, such as an individual’s employment or academic standing (for example, academic evaluation, grades, or advancement) on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct (quid pro quo), which may occur whether a person resists and suffers the threatened harm or the person submits and avoids the threatened harm; or (2) unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, persistent, or pervasive that it effectively denies a person access to the University’s education or work programs or activities (hostile environment).

Assessing the Conduct

Conduct is unwelcome if a person did not consent to it. Consent is agreement, assent, approval, or permission given voluntarily and may be communicated verbally or by actions. That a person welcomes some sexual contact does not necessarily mean that person welcomes other sexual contact. Similarly, that a person willingly participates in conduct on one occasion does not necessarily mean that the same conduct is welcome on a subsequent occasion.

Conduct in Relationships between Individuals of Different University Status

No FAS Faculty member shall request or accept sexual favors from, or initiate or engage in a romantic or sexual relationship with, any undergraduate student at Harvard College. Faculty members are defined as ladder, non-ladder, and visiting faculty. Furthermore, no FAS Faculty member, instructor, teaching assistant, teaching fellow, researcher, tutor, proctor, graduate student, or undergraduate course assistant, shall request or accept sexual favors from, or initiate or engage in a romantic or sexual relationship with, any student, including a graduate student or DCE student, who is enrolled in a course taught by that individual or otherwise subject to that individual’s academic supervision before the supervision has concluded and, if applicable, a final grade on the student’s supervised academic performance has been submitted to the Registrar. Academic supervision includes teaching, advising a thesis or dissertation, supervising research, supervising teaching, grading, or serving as Director of Undergraduate or Graduate Studies of the student’s academic program. In addition, no resident tutor or freshman proctor shall request or accept sexual favors from, or initiate or engage in a romantic or sexual relationship with, any undergraduate student at Harvard College.

Requests for Support, Information, or Advice

Anyone seeking support, information, or advice can expect to learn about resources available at the University and elsewhere that provide counseling and support. They also will be advised about the steps involved in pursuing an informal resolution or filing a formal complaint. Each Title IX Resource Coordinator has information about any companion policies or procedures that may apply at the local School or unit. In addition, the School or unit Title IX Resource Coordinator or the University Title IX Coordinator may discuss with Initiating Parties whether any supportive measures are appropriate at this stage.

Supportive measures may include restrictions on contact, course or work schedule alterations, changes in housing, or increased monitoring of certain areas of campus. Interim measures may be implemented or revised at any stage of the informal or formal complaint process.

Formal Complaints

The formal complaint process begins when a student, faculty member, staff member, or third party files a written complaint of sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, or other sexual misconduct with the University Tile IX Coordinator. The person bringing the allegation is called the Complainant (or a Reporter, if it is a third party filing on behalf of a potential Complainant). The person against whom the complaint is brought is called the Respondent..

Title IX Resource Coordinators   

Harvard has designated Title IX Resource Coordinators throughout the University to help address issues of sexual and gender-based harassment within their specific School or unit. The Title IX Resource Coordinators play an integral role in carrying out the University’s commitment to provide a positive learning, teaching and working environment for the entire community.

The local Title IX Resource Coordinators’ responsibilities include receiving information about allegations of unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, providing supportive measures, and serving as resources for questions about sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, and other sexual misconduct. Title IX Resource Coordinators are knowledgeable about, and will provide information on, the University Policy and Procedures and on the wide range of resources available to the community.

Faculty should consult with a Title IX Resource Coordinator if any possible cases of sexual or gender-based harassment come to their attention. Title IX Resource Coordinators are trained to handle sensitive information with appropriate discretion. Although not a confidential resource, they protect and respect privacy to the greatest extent possible, sharing information only on a need-to-know basis, for example, to evaluate interim measures or to enable the University to take action to ensure the safety of the community.

Notice and Confidentiality

The University Policy provides that University officers, other than those who are prohibited from making such notifications because of a legal confidentiality obligation, must promptly notify the School or Unit Title IX Resource Coordinator about possible sexual or gender-based harassment. This means that if those University officers learn about a possible incident, they need to contact the Title IX Resource Coordinator, who will determine what steps, if any, to take next.

Individuals who are responsible for making such notifications include (but are not limited to) deans; administrative and professional staff at all Schools and Units; those responsible for residential life (e.g., Faculty Deans, Resident Deans and Tutors, Resident Advisors); coaches and assistant coaches; other personnel who work directly with students such as those who are involved with student clubs and organizations, career services, academic support, etc.; and faculty and others who teach students, such as graduate student teaching fellows.

Speaking with someone, even the Title IX Resource Coordinator, the University Title IX Coordinator, or someone who is responsible for notifying the School or unit Title IX Resource Coordinator, does not mean that you will need to participate in an informal resolution or file a complaint. The University encourages all persons who believe they may have been the subject of sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, or other sexual misconduct to speak with an appropriate University officer about the incident because, even if no informal process is commenced or formal complaint is filed, that information will help the University identify any concerns about harassment and work to address them. Speaking to a University officer will allow any student affected to be supported by the School and also will allow School and University officials to consider whether there are broader issues for the community that need to be addressed.

There are certain resources who are privileged under the law and who, therefore, are generally prohibited from disclosing information they receive, even in a legal proceeding. Mental health clinicians, SHARE staff providing services as rape crisis counselors, lawyers providing legal advice to clients, and clergy acting in their professional capacity hold such a privilege. They do not have to make such a notification, and, absent special circumstances, they are prohibited from disclosing even in a legal proceeding. Confidential resources are listed above.