The Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering committee plans to inform departments that could be affected by the cuts they recommend before presenting its recommendations and proposals to the Brandeis community, according to a draft timeline Provost Marty Krauss presented at last Thursday's faculty meeting.According to the timeline, CARS plans to complete its report by April 16. Krauss explained that there will be meetings over a two-work day period, April 17 to April 20, during which departments for which the report recommends cuts will be notified before the report is released online April 20. CARS will then present its recommendations and the rationale for the recommendations at a special faculty meeting April 23.

This timeline grew out of discussions in a three-hour meeting last Tuesday that included administrators, representatives of the Faculty Budget Committee, the Faculty Senate Council and members of the University Advisory Councils, Krauss said Thursday.

Several directors of graduate school programs expressed concern about the timeline as it could relate to the reduction of Ph.D. programs, since many prospective doctoral students are expected to accept admissions offers by April 15, before the final decisions about the proposals would be made. After the meeting, Krauss and Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe said that they would inform graduate school doctoral programs of possible cuts at the beginning of Passover break, prior to the completion of the report and a final decision, to give them the option of informing prospective students.

Krauss emphasized the difference between having a timeline for cutting programs and not adding programs. "When you're talking about reducing programs ... it was felt that that's a much more difficult conversation to have; [it's] very difficult to agree to cut a program publicly," she said at the meeting. "We needed to create a specific time zone when these discussions would be taking place."

"[According to the Faculty Handbook], establishment of undergrad academic program requires legislative approval of a faculty meeting," Krauss stated.

"But if a program is discontinued, the faculty handbook does not require a faculty vote." She added that proposals for discontinuing a program have to be submitted to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or the Council of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for review respectively.

Krauss said that she intended to give her report to the Senate May 10 and post it online that same day, before presenting her decisions if a faculty meeting is called May 7. "[The timeline] basically completes the work that CARS was established to do."

Some faculty expressed concerns at the faculty meeting about the timeline process. "How do you draw the line between what's new and covered by the Faculty Handbook that requires full faculty approval, and how do you distinguish that from changes [which do not]" one faculty member asked. Jaffe, however, explained that the timeline process related only to recommendations for "the discontinuation of a department, diploma or a degree" and not other kinds of proposals.

"I'm very struck by the chronology which says that the report will be completed, and only after the report is completed ... those affected will be informed," Prof. Jacob Cohen (AMST) said at the meeting. Dean Jaffe responded that CARS had been seeking input from departments and consulting with them.

"I don't think 350 people can effectively make difficult decisions about their neighbors," Prof. Jane Kamensky (HIST) said, supporting the timeline and the role of the administration. Emphasizing accountability, she added that it was important to know "at whose doorstep the changes lie."

Prof. Peter Conrad (SOC), chair of the faculty budget committee, which participated in the meeting, said those faculty present supported the timeline in light of the financial challenges the University faces.

Krauss explained that the benefits of the timeline included capitalizing on existing momentum by linking the already established new options of the Business Major with Justice Brandeis Semester with the restructuring of existing programs, ensuring full faculty participation without summer surprises when faculty are not on campus, providing clarity for incoming students and meeting the Board of Trustees' expectation for a comprehensive academic plan.

However, Krauss noted that the downsides of the timeline would be that it would compress the period of time required to make consequential decisions that could contribute to negative media coverage.

Krauss told the Justice Friday that she had submitted the timeline to the Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities for their review.

"It's going to be a very rough period," Krauss said in an interview regarding the three-and-a-half-week time period after the release of the report.

"Part of the reasons we're talking about the process [is] to let people know that this is coming up, and given the fact that we're so deep into the semester, we're going to do our very, very best to be as consultative as possible," Krauss said.