Harvard GSD Employer Recruiting Policies

In partnership with career services offices across Harvard University, the GSD has developed a set of policies for equitable and fair recruiting practices. Employers are asked to review GSD policies prior to posting hiring opportunities, and before recruiting on campus.

  • Read about the GSD recruiting policies
  • IRS guidance on independent contractors
  • Pay Transparency Laws
  • Salary Transparency Laws have been enacted in the U.S. states of CA, CO, WA, NYC, and U.S. cities/counties of Ithaca, NY, Westchester County, NY, and Jersey City, NJ. These laws require salary ranges to be included in job postings for applicable employers. Other U.S. states are in the process of considering similar requirements. GSD Career Services strongly encourages all employers to list salary ranges.

Harvard GSD Community Values, Rights, and Responsibilities

Please review the following Community Values Statement

Harvard University and the Graduate School of Design aspire to provide education and scholarship of the highest quality—to advance the frontiers of knowledge and to prepare individuals for life, work, and leadership. Achieving these aims depends on the efforts of thousands of faculty, students, and staff across the university. Some of us make our contribution by engaging directly in teaching, learning, and research; others of us, by supporting and enabling those core activities in essential ways. Whatever our individual roles and wherever we work within Harvard, we owe it to one another to uphold certain basic values of the community.

  • Conscientious pursuit of excellence in one’s work
  • Respect for the rights, differences, and dignity of others
  • Honesty and integrity in dealing with all members of the community
  • Accountability for personal behavior

Achieving the mission of the school requires an environment of trust and mutual respect, free expression and inquiry, and a commitment to truth, excellence, and lifelong learning. Students, program participants, faculty, staff, and alumni accept these principles when joining the Harvard Graduate School of Design community.

Community members have a personal responsibility to integrate these values into every aspect of their experience at HGSD. Through our personal commitment to these values, we can create an environment in which we all can achieve our full potential.

Rights and Responsibilities

Each member of the GSD community has rights and responsibilities related to upholding these collective values. The GSD is committed to ensuring these rights and responsibilities through the five key areas listed below. These areas contextualize the GSD’s commitment, which is put into practice through related policies and procedures accessible through the following pages:

  1. Safety, Health, and Wellbeing
  2. Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging
  3. Equitable Accountability
  4. Respectful and Transparent Engagement
  5. Academic Integrity