CORRECTION APPENDED SEE BOTTOMProposals for a Business major beginning in fall 2010 and a pilot program for an optional Justice Brandeis Semester, a semester-long, experiential learning initiative, were passed in a first reading at the March 4 faculty meeting, according to Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe.

The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee approved both programs at its Feb. 26 meeting last Thursday after they were submitted by two CARS subcommittees. The proposals will be on the agenda again this Thursday.

Jaffe, who is the chair of CARS, said the proposals were passed in an effort to increase Brandeis' applicant pool by 1,000 students over the next four years and increase the undergraduate student body by 100 students per year for four years.

Investing in 400 additional students will make about a $6.4 million contribution to the University's budget gap in 2014, Jaffe explained. The University will receive $12 million in tuition after the dispersal of financial aid, he explained. Subtracted from that are $2.5 million because students participating in the JBS will only pay three-quarters of a fall or spring semester's tuition, $1 million in expenses so that campus services can accommodate additional students, $900,000 in costs for new JBS staff and operating expenses and between $700,000 and $1 million in costs for the Business major. Together with expected reductions in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Arts and Sciences faculty budget, savings would amount to $12 million, Jaffe said.

The calculations assume that "everybody [reduces expenses], because that is the most conservative assumption," Jaffe said. In an interview with the Justice last Friday, Jaffe explained that the JBS would be more expensive the more people participated, whether it was mandatory or optional, because of the expenses of mounting the programs and the losses that would occur because students are only paying three-quarters tuition rather than full tuition. "The cost of doing this is to some extent an opportunity cost," he said.

The costs for the Business major will not come out of the Arts and Sciences faculty budget, Jaffe said. However, "The costs of mounting the JBS will have to be covered within the existing [Arts and Sciences] budget, . which might involve not being able to teach other things," Jaffe said. In terms of faculty compensation, he explained that faculty teaching the JBS might either receive extra pay if they teach JBS courses in addition to courses in the spring or fall or be paid the same and not teach other courses in the spring or fall. Prof. Tim Hickey (COSI) explained in some cases the idea would be "moving classes from the academic year to the summer."

According to the motion for the JBS, students may enroll in a Justice Brandeis Semester any summer, fall or spring after they have completed their first spring term. The motion states that the program "will consist of at least 12 credit hours (or the equivalent of three courses) in an approved program providing intensive, inquiry-based courses and real-world experiential opportunities."

"We are suggesting an optional program initially, but we are seriously hoping that this will be so attractive that the majority of the students [will participate]," potentially leading to the existence of "a mandatory program in the long run," Prof. Sacha Nelson (BIOL), co-chair of the Subcommittee on the Summer Semester and Experiential Learning, said at the meeting.

Hickey explained that students could participate in the JBS through programs such as study abroad, participating in an Environmental Field Semester, completing a student teaching practicum, conducting extended scientific research or taking part in a Summer Arts Festival.

Many faculty expressed concerns during last week's faculty meeting that the plans for the JBS were premature.

"I don't think many of us know what we're voting for," Prof. Mary Baine Campbell (ENG) said during the discussion on the JBS. "Because I have so many questions about individual programs, . I really would hope that the committee would talk to actual faculty in actual schools and come back with actual suggestions."

Prof. Jonathan Sarna (NEJS) said that he supported the JBS proposal, stating that it was about "changing the name from 10 different things we already do to [the JBS];" noting an existing summer program in Hebrew.

The subcommittee's co-chairs also explained how the JBS proposal would help increase the size of the student body while allowing the University to house students in the current dorms and avoid the issue of overcrowding on campus.

"Our goal is eventually to have most or all students doing [the JBS], we're just not making it required at this point because we feel that until the program is better fleshed out, we can't, in good conscience say that every student has to do it." Jaffe told the Justice. He said that the point of the JBS "is to have an exciting program to make students want to apply to Brandeis." He acknowledged that an optional program would increase the overcrowding issue. Jaffe explained that the initial plans for the JBS would involve students applying for the individual programs with limited capacity.

The motion for the Business major reads, "Beginning in the fall of 2010, an interdisciplinary major in Business will be offered." The major will require 10 courses, comprising 5 required core courses and five electives, according to the agenda.

Jaffe explained at the meeting that CARS envisioned capping the number of Business majors at 100 to preserve the academic character of Brandeis and to make do with the University resources available, such as the number of course sections. Jaffe suggested that students would apply to become Business majors as sophomores and be accepted based on academic performance if capping became necessary. Jaffe told the Justice that the Business major would be cost-effective because it would function with larger classes. "The classes for the Business major at Brandeis would be smaller than at most business programs . but they would still be large by Brandeis standards."

Prof. Thomas King (ENG) said after the meeting that he was pleased with the interdisciplinary focus of the Business program. "What I would like to see happen is that a number of courses would be developed that would bring business together with the various disciplines. For example, I think [courses] in arts management [and] managing a nonprofit . would be [big hits] at Brandeis."

Before each vote, Student Union President Jason Gray '10 presented to the faculty Union Senate Resolutions supporting the changes. "It's fair to say, while a small number of students have questions about the Business major, the overwhelming majority are excited about the option," he said at the meeting.

"I'm incredibly excited about the Business proposal. I think it will allow us to appeal to a lot of students who wanted to look at Brandeis but, because we didn't have a Business major, weren't looking at us the way they should have been looking at us," Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy said. She said the JBS gave her "a way to put [these activities] in some framework that I can talk about to entering students [in a way] they [can] understand." Aside from attracting students with the Business major, she said, "There are other students who basically say, 'Yes Brandeis is this great place, but tell me what's different about Brandeis.' Now I can tell them."

-Editor's note: An earlier version of this story was posted on the Justice Web site March 6.

Correction: This article originally misspelled the surname of the Dean of Arts and Sciences. His name is Adam Jaffe, not Adam Jaffee.