January 2024

Yale's residential colleges

The residential college system is a cornerstone of Yale College’s mission of bringing together and educating exceptionally promising students of all backgrounds.  All incoming undergraduates are assigned to one of the fourteen colleges, remaining affiliated through graduation and beyond.  The colleges are a primary context for students’ exploration and development of intellectual, moral, civic, and creative capacities, and of connection to their peers and the university.

Yale’s residential colleges form close-knit communities, provide integrated advising and other support for students, and house and feed almost all first-years and sophomores, as well as many juniors and seniors.  Membership in a particular college is core to students’ identities.  “What’s your college?” is a common conversation starter—even as each college is a microcosm of an undergraduate student body today of many backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

Role and responsibilities

Heads of College have a central role in their residential college communities, serving as compass and chief executive officer, providing broad intellectual and social leadership, with support from administrative and professional staff.  They set the tone for the college and lead by influence, partnering with the Residential College Dean who serves as chief academic and personal adviser to students, and maintaining productive relationships with facilities, hospitality, and other university services through collaboration with the administration of Yale College.  They actively shape the social and intellectual life of their residential communities through events, including teas and fireside chats, and their active support for academic, athletic, and cultural programming, such as senior Mellon Forum presentations, creative and performing arts events, and intramural competitions.  They span a student’s bright college years: waving flags on move-in day, hosting festive dinners, and proudly presenting diplomas at Commencement.

Living and working in architecturally important buildings in the heart of Yale’s campus and the City of New Haven, Heads are daily presences in the life of students, fostering a culture of intimate social and intellectual connection, and helping establish a space of civic and moral responsibility.  As teachers, they are adept at listening to students of many backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, understanding their views and needs, and engaging them in discussion of the university’s policies and mission.  Heads are often “on call.”  They enforce the undergraduate regulations and, as needed, manage student crises and emergencies or unforeseen campus situations, whether power outages, floods, or fire drills.  Heads direct students to financial, academic, and mental-health resources, and engage in pastoral and community care.

Heads select and oversee college fellows and affiliates.  With support from leaders in Yale College’s business operations, they co-supervise staff, typically an operations manager, senior administrative assistant, and service assistant.  Heads are responsible for budgets, ensure proper financial practices, and steward university buildings and facilities, in close partnership with the colleges’ assistant directors of operations.

Each college has its ethos, traditions, and activities, which Heads support and enhance, even as Heads help to ensure that students across Yale College have a consistent undergraduate experience.  Accordingly, Heads support each other, and share “best practices,” including through attending monthly meetings of the Council of Heads of College, currently chaired by Catherine Panter-Brick, and meetings of its committees.  Heads also receive ongoing support from the administration of Yale College and many university offices and services.  They carry out certain directives of the higher administration of the university and advise the dean, especially on important matters affecting students in the residential colleges.

Appointment terms, remuneration, and reporting

New Heads of College are appointed by the Dean of Yale College, with the approval of the President, and in consultation with residential college advisory committees.  Appointment as a Head is reliant on, and coterminous with, a primary appointment at the university.  Heads are, with few and occasional exceptions, tenured FAS faculty members.  Appointments are typically for five years, usually beginning July 1, with the possibility of reappointment for a further and final five-year term.  Most duties do not extend to summer months when the colleges are used for events and summer-session classes.

To support their leadership role and residence in college, Heads receive a supplemented compensation package and reduced teaching requirements.  A Head resides in the Head of College House, which includes public and private spaces.  To encourage frequent informal contact with students, Heads receive an academic-year meal plan, as do their immediate family members.  A Head’s spouse or partner, on request, will be appointed Associate Head of College and receive a small annual stipend and reimbursement for certain expenses.

Heads of College report to the Dean of Yale College, who is responsible for assessing their effectiveness in leading the residential colleges and supporting Yale College’s mission; Heads meet individually with the Dean at least once a year to discuss goals for their leadership.  The chair of the Council of Heads of College serves as the official contact point and liaison with the administration, but each Head of College also has an open line of communication with the Dean and the President, as well as other administrative offices across the university.

Search process

The Dean of Yale College appreciates hearing from faculty members who are interested in serving as a Head of College or who have ideas of colleagues well suited to the position; in most years, one or more appointments as Head will need to be made; an ongoing sense of colleagues’ interest in serving, now or in the future, assists in stewarding the undergraduate program.

For consideration for an open appointment, interested faculty members are asked to provide a one– to two-page statement of intent, explaining interest in the position and current and past engagement with students, together with a curriculum vitae or other biographical note or record.  Please send these to the Dean’s chief of staff Andrew Forsyth, andrew.forsyth@yale.edu.

In appointing new Heads, the Dean is assisted by residential college advisory committees of fellows and students, who collect general feedback and share colleges’ needs and wishes with the dean.  In later stages of the search process, applicants’ statements of intent and curricula vitae may be confidentially shared for comment with committees and with the FAS Dean’s Office and Provost’s Office.

Members of the Dean’s office are available to potential applicants to discuss further details of appointments.  Please contact andrew.forsyth@yale.edu.