Prof. Tim Hickey (COSI) has launched a wiki Web site that enables students, faculty, staff and other members of the Brandeis community to voice their opinions, concerns and ideas regarding the University's budget cut discussions. According to the Web site, its main page has been viewed over 900 times since its creation.

Hickey explained that the wiki page is a place where the Brandeis community can discuss "how Brandeis can work to be more efficient." The Web site allows anyone at Brandeis to add information or edit information that is already on the Web site. "It would be nice to have one place where all those ideas could get organized and analyzed, and that was my hope with this wiki page," Hickey said.

The Web site "is only accessible on campus," Hickey said. "We want to have a discussion within the Brandeis community; we don't necessarily want third parties coming in and telling us about where Brandeis should go." Hickey also explained that people can post anonymously on the site.

According to the Web site, its goal is to allow the Brandeis community to collaborate on creating "new plans for improving the quality of the Brandeis experience (undergraduate, grad, faculty, staff), while increasing revenues, decreasing costs and contributing more fully to society."

"I wanted a way that [Brandeis] as a community could share information and ideas, and the wiki is one way in which we can get many people working together to build something," Hickey said.

The Web site is divided into nine different categories. One category, called "Hot Topics," discusses the issues that are most discussed on campus right now. Currently, the first topic in that section is a discussion about the Rose Art Museum. Another category is called "Undergraduate Academics," which proposes alternatives to help the University cut costs and raise revenue. One topic under this section is the Fischer/Lamb Plan.

The Fischer/Lamb Plan was an idea created by Profs. David Fischer (HIST) and Sarah Lamb (ANTH). The plan suggests that departments should look internally for ways to "operate more efficiently," Lamb said. She explained that each department was asked to look for ways to reduce spending without "harming the quality of the program." The plan proposes that some smaller programs merge and that other departments change requirements in order to reduce cost.

Lamb explained that the Wiki page summarized the main points of the Fischer/Lamb Plan.

Lamb explained that the wiki page "is a way for students, faculty, [administrators] and staff to get involved from the beginning [of the decision-making process] to share their ideas, which is more rewarding for us all. Hopefully we will generate more ideas- [the wiki page] is a better way to build community spirit."

Another suggestion in the "Undergraduate Academics" category is titled "Minimizing Major Requirements." The idea states, "Departments could examine their curricula and determine which requirements are truly fundamental for all majors and which could be strongly suggested for certain types of majors (e.g. premed) but not required. This would increase student choice but require more advising."

An additional category, called "Admissions," has a subtopic that suggests the possibility of no longer requiring the SATs for admission to Brandeis.

Dev Singer '11 said, "I think that it is a good way for students and anyone to put out their ideas and critique other people's ideas in a way that will be visible because you're not replying to a thread, you're adding pros and cons-that's what the wiki is for: having an idea and people compiling a list together of these ideas," she said.

Prof. Hickey said, "I would encourage more people to visit [the Web site] and put in ideas.