Harvard Grad Council Urges Hiring Push
Graduate students are being encouraged to pitch new faculty lines to their departments as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences plans to expand hiring.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in People
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Harvard Graduate Student Council President Flora S. Giodani told graduate students to lobby their departments for new faculty hiring lines. The call follows Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra's announcement that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences will increase hiring substantially next year.
Why it matters
The FAS hiring freeze announced last spring followed federal funding cuts, and the university has since loosened it after cost-cutting measures. Hoekstra said she would boost hiring after department chairs and standing committees said the existing pace was insufficient.
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences currently has 33 active faculty searches, 25 of which are tenure-track searches launched in October. How many of these will translate into approved new hires has not yet been determined.
The players
Flora S. Giodani
Giodani is the president of the Harvard Graduate Student Council, the body representing graduate students across the university.
Hopi E. Hoekstra
Hoekstra is the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, overseeing its academic departments and faculty hiring.
The details
Giodani proposed that graduate students influence hiring by advocating for specific faculty lines within their departments, and also suggested extending the gap between election announcements and candidate deadlines to roughly a week. Departments will submit hiring plans in February that will dictate next year's faculty searches.
Timeline
Spring (prior year): University-wide hiring freeze announced after federal funding cuts.
October: 25 tenure-track searches launched.
Fall: Hiring freeze loosened after cost-cutting measures.
Tuesday, November 4, 2026: Hoekstra announced FAS will increase hiring substantially.
February 2027: Departments submit plans dictating next year's searches.
People Strategy
The renewed hiring push comes directly after the freeze imposed in response to federal research funding cuts, marking a partial reversal of that spring policy. It signals that the university is reconsidering how faculty capacity should be rebuilt after those cuts.
Graduate students who want a voice in hiring can now press their departments directly before February plans are finalized. The change could affect which research areas are staffed and how quickly open positions are filled in the coming year.
The takeaway
Graduate students who want to shape faculty hiring should bring specific lines to their departments before the February planning deadline. Early advocacy is the most direct way to influence which positions move forward.
What happens next
Departments will submit hiring plans in February 2027 that will shape next year's faculty searches.
Further reading
For related workforce coverage, see People in our Cambridge business section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Harvard Crimson.
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