Provost Marty Krauss and the faculty senate impaneled the Faculty Review Committee on Nov. 29 to review Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe's curriculum proposals and to organize feedback and analyses into an advisory report.That report is expected to be submitted by Feb. 15 and will be posted on University President Jehuda Reinharz's Integrated Planning Web site, according to the committee's chair Richard Parmentier, who said that heading the eight member committee has been a "full-time job." (Parmentier is also chair of the anthropology department).

After the report is posted online, Krauss said that there will be a two week window of opportunity for community members to review everything and post feedback on the site. She said she will then take into consideration Jaffe's proposal, the committee's report and responses from the community before deciding which proposals are most likely to achieve what she said were "overarching goals."

No committee member has a primary appointment in a department that the dean has proposed to either cut or reduce. Parmentier said that the provost also selected professors who have other important institutional obligations, such as serving on the faculty senate or a budget committee.

Parmentier said the committee has organized and established mechanisms to proceed in soliciting necessary information by forming 14 subcommittees which will analyze statistical and textual evidence provided by Jaffe and other sources.

Parmentier said that committee proceedings must remain confidential because the committee has access to information regarding budgetary implications of the proposed cuts, reductions and additions and because it is necessary for departments, schools and committees to be able to communicate with the committee in confidence.

The Faculty Review Committee is consulting with different committees and structures of the School of Arts and Sciences, such as the graduate council and the undergraduate curriculum committee, according to Parmentier. He said that senior administrators have also come before the committee, including Jaffe, Krauss and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter French.

"It's a very serious effort and we owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude because they are pushing themselves and they are working to craft the most comprehensive and thorough report possible," Krauss said of the committee in an interview with the Justice.