Jessie Cheung, Senior Photographer

Yale is searching for “administrators on call,” or new employees meant to be available at a moment’s notice to mediate issues at protests and other events.

The new position, first posted in mid-August, comes as Yale is attempting to make its free expression policies clearer. The University recently consolidated and tightened its restrictions on protests over summer break.

“It’s basically to try and avoid situations where things are escalated by encounters with police or security,” said Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis said of the new administrators.

The job posting states that “key duties include providing on-site logistical support in partnership with Yale Public Safety during protests, demonstrations, and peaceful dissent, and individuals and groups practicing free expression; offering policy guidance, including timely warning notices, along with remedies for a return to compliance.” 

It notes that “the role involves evening and weekend work, especially during periods with high-profile events or emergencies and will occasionally require night duty. Additionally, the Associate Director must have the ability to be on campus with very short notice as needed.”

Vice President for University Life Kimberly Goff-Crews wrote that a “free expression facilitator program [began] last spring in a pilot program with existing staff” which included “current student life deans.”

“We moved to a permanent program this fall because we confirmed how important it is that students have a point of contact within the administration for activity around free expression and peaceable assembly and because the deans and staff in the pilot already have existing responsibilities,” Goff-Crews wrote. “I expect that some deans and university administrators will continue to be visible to students as well.”

The required skills listed for the on-call job include “proven experience in conflict resolution, mediation, and de-escalation techniques,” “familiarity with university environments,” and “cultural competence and ability to work with diverse populations.”

The job is classified under the compensation grade of “manager,” which carries a salary range of $72,100-$125,100. As of Monday, the job had 34 applicants through LinkedIn.

At times during last semester’s pro-Palestinian campus protests, students and administrators clashed over what forms of protests were or should be allowed. Yale police intervened on some occasions and arrested 47 students who had set up a three-night encampment on Beinecke Plaza.

Last year, administrators occasionally attempted to communicate in person with protesting students. In one instance, Lewis personally handed a letter threatening disciplinary action and arrest to protesters occupying Cross Campus. In another, Assistant Vice President for University Life Pilar Montalvo admitted “administrative errors” in allowing a student to remove a banner listing Palestinians killed in Gaza and in permitting the banner to be posted in the first place.

In his role as dean, Lewis consistently interacts with students and manages academic and residential life at the University. Montalvo works in a high-level role overseeing various student life initiatives.

“It seemed to me and to the leadership of the University to be important that this be a person who’s not like the dean of students of a particular school, because that person has to deal with the students in all their different activities,” Lewis said. “If you’re the dean of students and you’re also trying to explain the disciplinary rules, that could create a situation where it’s difficult to manage.”

The new administrators will report to the Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life.