Planning details released

by Sam Mintz | 10/23/2012

Planning details released

by Sam Mintz | 10/23/2012

Ruth Shapiro, beloved benefactor, dies at 95

by Sam Mintz | 10/16/2012

Ruth Shapiro, one of the most influential donors in Brandeis' history, died on Sunday at the age of 95, according to a BrandeisNOW press release. Over the last 50 years, she and her husband Carl "helped transform the university into a leader in American higher education," according to the release. Shapiro's name is on two of the newest and most impressive buildings on campus, the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Admissions Center and the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Campus Center, which were completed in 2009 and 2002, respectively.

Strategic plan framework draws mixed reactions

by Sam Mintz | 10/16/2012

The much-anticipated preliminary framework for the University's strategic plan was released on Wednesday in an email to the Brandeis community from Provost Steve Goldstein '78.

Mods parties temporarily prohibited by DCL

by Sam Mintz | 10/08/2012

Students searching for parties in the Foster Mods last weekend came away disappointed as the Department of Community Living temporarily ceased party registration in the Mods following an unprecedented spike in incident reports and complaints about crowds and excessive noise.

Mistakes lead to confusing Union election results

by Sam Mintz | 09/25/2012

Sixteen new senators were elected to the Student Union last week, in elections that were marred by polling errors and saw low voter turnout across the board, as no position garnered more than 51 percent of eligible voters. One of these errors was that the Union announced the incorrect winner for the position of Off-Campus senator, according to a Justice analysis of the results.

University announces policy on student-faculty relations

by Sam Mintz | 09/25/2012

The University has released a new policy on faculty and staff relations with students, according to an email from University President Frederick Lawrence to the Brandeis community. The policy prohibits romantic or sexual relationships between instructors and any student whom he or she "instructs, evaluates, supervises, advises or over whom he/she is in a position to exercise authority in any way." "The pedagogical relationship between Instructor and student must be protected from influences or activities that can interfere with learning and fair evaluation," reads the policy. The policy also applies to student teaching assistants with respect to students that they instruct or advise. According to Associate Vice President of Communications Bill Burger, the policy was enacted as part of a regular review of University policies. In an email to the Justice, he said that "the new policy ... addresses situations that had not been addressed explicitly in previous policies and we felt it was time to do so." The policy opens by saying that "Brandeis University is committed to maintaining a fair and professional work environment in which members of the faculty and staff carry out their responsibilities in a way that is both respectful to those over whom they have authority and conducive to the development of a just and flourishing academic community." It applies to staff members as well as faculty, and provides the same limitations for relationships between students and staff, saying "no Staff member shall enter into a romantic or sexual relationship with a student for whom that Staff member has responsibilities of advising, mentoring, evaluating, coaching or supervising." Burger also said that the University "takes under consideration recommendations of college and university associations and best practices of other institutions." A document on the University website describing the process and background of this new policy lists several universities whose policies were reviewed in the development of this one. They include Brown University, Tufts University, Harvard University, Dartmouth College and Northeastern University, among several others across the country. The policy was developed by Profs.