The school’s main buildings for research, teaching, and administration are located in the heart of Boston’s hospital district and Harvard University’s Longwood campus. The facilities adjoin those of Harvard’s Medical School, School of Dental Medicine, and Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine and are near Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and other Harvard-affiliated hospitals. The school is within walking distance of many cultural institutions, such as Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and public transportation is readily available to other parts of Boston and Cambridge, where students may cross-register for courses at other Harvard schools and at MIT. A shuttle bus runs between the Longwood campus and Harvard Yard in Cambridge.
Below you will find information on the following:
- Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine
- Instructional Computing Facility
- Office for Student Affairs
- Student Housing
- Students with Disabilities
- Career Services Office
- International Students/Office
- Student Organizations
- Office of Alumni Programs
Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine
The Countway Library is the principal provider of library services to the school. The Countway, one of the largest medical libraries in the world, houses over 630,000 bound volumes, 3,500 current biomedical journal titles, and 10,000 noncurrent titles. The library’s website provides access to additional full-text journals in the biosciences and medicine and to many electronic databases. The Countway also owns an extensive collection of historical materials dating from the fifteenth century. Students have borrowing privileges throughout the Harvard University library system. The Boston Public Library, MIT libraries, and other area libraries add to the total book and periodical resources available.
Instructional Computing Facility
The HSPH Instructional Computing Facility is dedicated to serving the course work and research computing needs of the school’s students and faculty. Resources include SUN Unix computers, 125 IBM personal computers, a Novell network, laser printers, and an OCR scanner; a wide array of software, including statistical packages, programming languages, analytical programs, and word-processing packages; and services such as file transfer, electronic mail, connections to the Internet, user assistance, short courses, and computer accounts for funded research. Many academic departments also provide computing resources for their students. Additional services, such as computer classes, discounted hardware and software, user groups, and technical support, are available through the offices of Harvard’s University Information Systems.
The Office for Student Affairs (OSA) provides a variety of support services and offers educational, social, and cultural programs to enhance the student experience at HSPH. Staff members are available to respond to the needs of individual students as they deal with the many demands of their academic and personal lives. The staff helps students and their families who have questions about living in Boston and the United States and also assists foreign students in adjusting to life here. The office also works closely with student government and other student groups to address collective student concerns. OSA sponsors noncredit academic support seminars on such topics as general and dissertation writing and can refer students to other sources of academic support. Another activity sponsored by the office is Global Chat, a seminar series featuring experts from around the world, including HSPH students, who share their experiences in an informal setting. The office also oversees the leasing process for the residential facilities and provides assistance to students with disabilities.
Student housing The Henry Lee Shattuck International House, available to both domestic and international students, is operated by the school on a nonprofit basis for its full-time students and their families. In addition to providing living quarters, the facility offers a supportive environment for HSPH students. Located within a tenminute walking distance of the school, the apartment complex consists of three buildings with seventy furnished one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments that accommodate single students, roommates, and families. Several apartments are accessible to those with disabilities. All apartments have private kitchens and baths, free Internet and email access via a data link to the school, two telephone lines, and interior cable access. Shared facilities include a computer room with a printer and copy machine, a library/reading room, an exercise room, a function room, a children’s playroom, a laundry room, an indoor bicycle storage area, a piano room, a TV room with satellite TV and DVD, a recycling area, and an outdoor playground. Applications are processed and apartments assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Harvard Real Estate Services also offers a wide range of housing options in both Cambridge and Boston.
Students with disabilities The Office for Student Affairs furnishes a range of services to disabled students, including interpreters, tape recordings of class readings, arrangements for appropriate accommodations and transportation, and other services as necessary.
The Office for Career Services offers career counseling, employment resources, and networking opportunities to assist students and alumni in expanding their employment prospects. The office invites numerous organizations to campus to present information sessions and to participate in the annual Career Fair. Organizations are invited to post jobs, internships, and fellowships and to review electronic resume/CV books for potential candidates. The career services staff conducts workshops on resume/CV and cover letter writing, job search strategies, and interviewing and negotiating skills and organizes panel discussions featuring public health professionals, including HSPH alumni. Students and alumni have access to current online job postings and to fellowship and internship opportunities. The Career Services Office Resource Room contains job listings, resource directories, and other career-related information. The office also maintains Crimson Compass, an online database of universitywide alumni willing to advise students and fellow alumni on various career issues. Child Care Facilities There are a number of child care facilities located near the Longwood and Cambridge campuses. Referrals and information are provided by the Harvard University Office of Work and Family. Arrangements should be made as early as possible, as facilities are quickly filled.
During the 2006–07 academic year, about 27 percent of HSPH students came from outside the United States. The experience international students bring to the school lends an important dimension to the academic program and adds to the diversity of the student population. International students organize many cultural events at the school and participate in the annual International Night talent show.
Harvard International Office
The Harvard International Office, located on the Cambridge campus, provides a variety of services to students from abroad, including orientations, newsletters, and crosscultural workshops. One program, the Friends of International Students, matches students with a person or family who will welcome them and ease their transition to the United States. International student advisers from the Harvard International Office hold weekly office hours at HSPH to assist students with visa matters and to advise them on immigration regulations.
The HSPH Student Government includes elected representatives from each department, from the MPH program, and from the Division of Biological Sciences. The Student Government meets regularly to discuss issues and plan activities related to student life at HSPH. The organization also provides a mechanism for working with members of the school’s faculty and administration on schoolwide issues, for sponsoring seminars and other educational programs, for organizing social activities, and for arranging for student representation on several of the school’s faculty committees. The Student Government frequently sponsors or cosponsors collaborative activities, such as toy drives, with the school and the neighboring community.
Various student organizations at HSPH geared toward the interests of specific constituencies include the Spanish Speaking Committee; the Asian Club; the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Alliance; the Jewish Students Association; the Muslim Student Group; the Christian Fellowship; the Health Policy Forum; Reproductive Health and Rights; and Students for Socially Responsive Endeavors.
The Office of Alumni Programs acts as a liaison between over 11,000 HSPH alumni and HSPH faculty, students, and administrators. The office develops and implements programs to facilitate alumni access to university resources and serves as a networking forum for students, alumni, faculty, and outside constituencies on local, regional, and international levels.
In addition, HSPH alumni are available to answer questions that potential applicants may have about departments, curricula, and possible career opportunities. The office publishes the HSPH Alumni Directory and disseminates information about programs and events organized by the Harvard Alumni Association. The Office of Alumni Programs also works with the HSPH Alumni Association and the Alumni Council, the association’s elected governing body, to organize gatherings in the United States and abroad.
Contact Information
For more information about student services, please contact
Stanley Hudson,
associate dean for student services,
677 Huntington Avenue,
Boston, MA 02115.
Phone: 617-432-4703
Fax: 617-432-2009
For more information about career services, please contact
Peter Crudele,
director of career services,
677 Huntington Avenue,
Boston, MA 02115.
Phone: 617-432-1034
Fax: 617-432-3184
Web: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/careers
For more information about student affairs
or students with disabilities,, please contact
Director,
Office for Student Affairs,
677 Huntington Avenue,
Boston, MA 02115.
Phone: 617-432-1036
Fax: 617-432-3184
Web: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/studentaffairs
For more information about Shattuck House and other housing, please consult http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/housing
For more information about Harvard Real Estate Services, please consult http://www.hres.harvard.edu/rre.html
For more information about child care centers in the area, please contact the Office of Work/Life Resources at 617-495-4100. The Medical Center Office of Work and Family can also provide information on support services, resources, and programs. Phone: 617-432-1615
Web: http://www.hms.harvard.edu/hr/owf.html
For more information about services offered by the Harvard University International Office, please contact
Maria Hernandez,
Adviser to Foreign Students and Scholars,
Harvard International Office,
1350 Massachusetts Avenue,
Cambridge, MA 02138.
Phone: 617-495-2789
Fax: 617-495-4088
For more information about alumni activities or alumni-applicant contacts, please contact
Margaret Loret,
director of alumni programs
677 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: 617-432-2401
Fax: 617-432-4517
E-mail: mloret@hsph.harvard.edu
Web: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/alumni/