Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe appointed a steering committee to put together a program for next year regarding which events will be held to mark the opening of the new Mandel Center for the Humanities currently under construction. Jaffe stressed that the Mandel Center included two different things: the physical construction of the building and the center in terms of programming and organizing activities. "The steering committee is not a steering committee for the building. The steering committee is a steering committee for the Mandel Humanities Center as a center," said Jaffe.

The committee, which will meet for the first time next week, will be responsible for planning events in the Mandel Center and advising Jaffe and Provost Marty Krauss on who should be moving into the building, Jaffe said. He also said Krauss will make the final decision as to who will move into the building.

"We've had some initial discussions with some groups that we think it makes sense to move into the building, but no final decisions have been made," Jaffe said. Krauss also said that she would consult with the director of the Mandel Center during the decision making process.

The construction of the center is slated to be complete by the beginning of the fall 2010 semester, Vice President for Capital Projects Dan Feldman previously told the Justice on Aug. 25.

The committee, which will meet for the first time next week, will be chaired by Prof. Ramie Targoff (ENG), who is on sabbatical this year. Other committee members include Profs. Steve Dowden (GRALL), Eugene Sheppard (NEJS), Bernard Yack (POL), Michael Willrich (HIST), Sarah Lamb (ANTH) and Jonathan Unglaub (FA). Unglaub said that Targoff will participate in meetings through teleconferencing. Committee members were selected by Jaffe.

Jaffe said that the Mandel Center "will bring people together to talk about the humanities in a general framework, so the steering committee will decide what the first theme is going to be." The Mandel Center will be organized in accordance with a theme, which will guide the center's activities for a year or two before a new theme is chosen.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Willrich wrote, "The great challenge for the steering committee, and for the faculty and students at large, will be to ensure that this building becomes home to more than office space, that it becomes a vital center for serious humanistic inquiry, scholarly and public programs, good conversation and free expression."

"I am hoping that we can keep this process moving, and maybe within the next month we will be at a point where we can sort of get a better sense of who will be moving into the building," Krauss said.

Krauss said, "Looking at how many offices are going to be available to be populated, ... there's a lot of different factors that go into my thinking about how to potentially utilize the space there." Krauss continued that they would evaluate space needs across campus before deciding who would be moved into the new building.

The process for assigning classrooms combines professor's requests with assignments based on class sizes and specific technical or space needs, among other factors, according to University Registrar Mark Hewitt.

Hewitt said that "conservatively," the registrar's office will begin scheduling classes in the Mandel Center's four classrooms before spring semester 2011. However, Hewitt added, if the center were ready for occupancy before spring 2011, scheduling would begin accordingly.

Hewitt said that the four classrooms in the Mandel Center would include an auditorium-style classroom with around 90 seats, a smaller classroom with around 50 seats and two seminar-style classrooms with between 20 and 25 seats.

- Miranda Neubauer and Nashrah Rahman contributed reporting