Word: gibson
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Gibson terms her position as "among the upper echelons" of Harvard employees. The spacious suite in which she works houses only four deans and about a half-dozen staff assistants and receptionists, each with their own office, and just doesn't produce the type of tension that "100 yards of typewriters" creates...
...major issue has sparked sharp antagonism between the deans and the staff during Gibson's time here, although there are occasionally differences in opinion between individual administrators and their aides...
Although there are, of course, clear status distinctions between the deans and their assistants. Gibson feels employees in her office are treated with respect. Almost everyone there is on a first-name basis, and when more formal titles are used, it's usually because of personal preferences, not on the basis of rank...
...Gibson and her co-workers are not unionized and considering the degree of worker satisfaction in this office, she believes there "is no need to actively seek the kind of power" unions aim to provide. She personally feels "Harvard does well in the way it treats employees. The plusses of working in a place like this far outweigh the disadvantages." Gibson admits she has a narrow base from which to compare her own work situation to that of other Harvard employees, and says she feels "really far removed" from such workers as the carpenters who went on strike this march...
...course, every job has its surprises: Gibson was one of the employees unable to enter her office when students protesting Harvard's investment in firms operating in South Africa closed University Hall in late April. It was an "eventful" week, Gibson recollects but it didn't stir up conflicts between the administrators in the office and their staff...