New developments on recent academic restructuring proposals include a discussion of the financial aspects of pursuing a Justice Brandeis Semester over the summer and the University Curriculum Committee's motion for the creation of a voluntary Justice Brandeis Semester in the summer of 2010.The UCC also motioned to create a new Business Major, a new Media, Communications and Society major and change the residency requirement from seven to eight semesters in the beginning of fall 2010. These motions will be voted on at the faculty meeting this Thursday.

Concerns about the new Business major, the new Communications, Media and Society major and the change of the residency requirement to eight semesters were discussed at a town hall meeting last Wednesday.

Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe said that "significant money" will be necessary to implement the proposals but "the money to pay the cost of doing this, we see, is a reasonable investment to get the $6 million in additional revenue [predicted to generate from increased enrollment]."

While Jaffe said at the town hall meeting that the Justice Brandeis Semester "would be required of all students," the UCC's motion to the faculty states that the semester will be voluntary.

"I think that the faculty feels that we haven't spelled out exactly what is going to qualify [as academic criteria for the Justice Brandeis Semester and] we haven't specified how we're going to come up with enough of these options for thousands of students to do it per year," said Jaffe in an interview with the Justice. Based on these concerns, Jaffe, who is the chair of the UCC, said that the UCC "felt that the risks associated with making [the Justice Brandeis Semester] required before we have all these details worked out is too great."

Jaffe told the Justice that the University is contemplating reducing the tuition for the Justice Brandeis Semester to three-fourths of the normal tuition rate, which stands at $37,566 for the 2009 to 2010 academic year. He explained that the rate would be reduced as "[the Justice Brandeis Semester] is three-fourths of the normal course load." According to the UCC motion, the Justice Brandeis Semester will encompass 12 credit hours.

At the town hall meeting Jaffe explained that students who choose to pursue the Justice Brandeis Semester over the summer would be eligible for Brandeis-funded financial aid. However, he said, "There is an issue with certain federal connected sources of aid [because] if you were to do three semesters in one year there are limitations on these [funding] in that they can be used in three semesters in one year."

Dean of Financial Services Peter Giumette explained in an interview with the Justice that some forms of financial aid such as the Stafford loan, a student loan that is offered to eligible students enrolled in institutions of higher education, is limited to a fixed amount of aid in an academic year. Even if the amount is split up over three equal dispersions for the three terms, the total annual amount will not change, said Giumette.

In an interview with the Justice, Jaffe confirmed that a homeschool model will be used for the Justice Brandeis Semester. Under the model, Jaffe explained, the student applies to a program through the University and then "Brandeis contracts with the provider of the foreign program who sends you there, and you don't necessarily know how much that costs."

Prof. Richard Gaskins (AMST) was concerned at the town hall meeting about the academic criteria of the Justice Brandeis Semester. "I hope we can find rigorous criteria for assuring the depth and strength of a Justice Brandeis Semester, especially when it counts for so many credits." Gaskins told the Justice.

On the other hand, Prof. Dan Perlman (BIOL) voiced his suggestion at the town hall meeting that the faculty should be trained in order to support students who will be enrolled in the Justice Brandeis Semester. In an interview with the Justice, Perlman said, "There were number of things listed under the [Justice Brandeis Semester including] short, intensive programs; internships; longer, very intensive programs; all of these things need different types of teaching from standing up in front of a class and lecturing or leading a small seminar discussion." Jaffe told the Justice that because students will be eligible to fulfill two of the eight semesters of residency requirement through study abroad or the Justice Brandeis Semester, they will have to fulfill a minimum of six semesters of on-campus residency. However, the requirement will remain unchanged for midyears. "If you're going to take a Brandeis degree, you should spend a certain amount of time at Brandeis," Jaffe said.

Prof. Jonathan Sarna (NEJS) questioned the need to change the residency requirement at the town hall meeting without doing significant market research to find out whether it would be profitable.

Reflecting on the University's mission statement with a commitment to social justice, Jessica Kent '09 questioned the need to create a Business major. At the town hall meeting, she said she believes that it will attract "the typical business students [who] are not a good fit for Brandeis."

Prof. Ben Gomes-Casseres (IBS) responded, saying, "A student who wants to take 20 Business courses is not going to like this program" because the major will have a special focus on the impact of business on society.

Reflecting on the decision to create a Media, Communications and Society major, Jaffe told the Justice that the decision was partly based on the significant number of students who create a major in communications through the Independent Interdisciplinary Major program.