Provost Steve Goldstein '78 announced in an email to faculty, students and staff that a steering committee has been formed to begin the strategic planning process that University President Frederick Lawrence initiated earlier this year.

Goldstein will serve as the chair of the committee. According to his email, the "talented and diverse committee" includes faculty, deans, undergraduate students, graduate students, trustees and members of the senior administration.

Notable members of the Brandeis community on the committee include Prof. Anita Hill (Heller), the senior adviser to the provost; Chief Executive Officer of the Davis Companies and the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees Jonathan Davis '75; and Chief of Staff of the Office of the President David Bunis '83.

The committee had an introductory meeting yesterday. Lawrence charged the committee and "set [them] off with a robust and exciting introduction to his view of the process. He brought energy to the table about being bold and at the same time practical," said Goldstein in an interview with the Justice.

The committee will meet for five or six hours once a month for a year. "The timeline is that we expect to present the board of trustees with a completed plan for their approval by December a year from now, so it's a yearlong process," said Goldstein.

The students on the committee are Student Union President Herbie Rosen '12 and Graduate Student Association representative Michael Singer.

Undergraduate students will be represented in the process through a Student Advisory Committee, which will hold town hall meetings, forums and online surveys. Rosen will accept applications from students who want to be on the committee. "I'm going to be looking for students from all different fields. I want to hit all corners of the University," he said in an interview with the Justice. "Our concerns can't be turned away." The Graduate Student Association will hold similar events to represent graduate students, according to Goldstein's email.

The University hired Elaine Kuttner of Cambridge Concord Associates as a consultant to the committee. The five academic deans and six professors will also serve on the committee.

"President Lawrence and I are deeply grateful to committee members for their willingness to assume this demanding service, and we thank the Faculty Senate Council for its guidance during the committee selection process," wrote Goldstein in his email.

Goldstein also announced the scheduling of information gathering sessions. According to his email, faculty and staff can sign up for a session online. These campus-wide discussions, which will begin the next week, will help develop the strategic plan.

All input received from these planning discussions will be posted on a strategic planning website sometime in December, according to Goldstein.

Goldstein's email also thanked members of the community in advance for their participation. "We need your input to produce a vibrant and successful plan that will propel us into a future as bold and discerning as the act of our formation," he wrote.

"There was a palpable sense of opportunity and anticipation in the room," said Goldstein of yesterday's first meeting. "That was very exciting."