At Thursday's faculty meeting, Prof. Tim Hickey (COSI), chair of the Faculty Senate, made two significant announcements to the assembled professors, regarding the creation of a new University committee and a proposal for amendments to the faculty handbook.

The Senate Council is considering the formation of a committee made up of students, faculty and administrators to examine sexual assault and harassment on campus.

In an email to the Justice, Hickey described the planned committee as "a short-term committee to look into Brandeis' current policies and best practices at other institutions and to propose concrete steps." He continued that "we are not so much reevaluating as looking at best practices elsewhere and seeing what makes sense at Brandeis."

After citing several studies that discuss the rise of sexual harassment and assault at high schools and colleges, Hickey concluded that the Senate hopes for "Brandeis to become a leader in the fight against sexual harassment and sexual violence on college campuses."

This announcement comes at a time when sexual assault is a focal issue on campus and has also been a frequent topic of discussion in the Faculty Senate.

Hickey also announced several proposals for amendments to the faculty handbook.

Four of the amendments were "explicit reference[s] to the Contract Faculty Guidelines," which will help clarify the language in the handbook.

Two of the amendments created new professor ranks outside of the tenure structure. One of them was the rank of "Instructor," which will be used mainly by the Mathematics Department. The other was a position called "Associate Professor of the Practice."

Another amendment decreased the term for "in-residence" professors from five years to three years.

The final amendment called for the "inclusion of [the] Heller [School for Social Policy and Management], [the International Business School], and Student representatives in the Councils of the University," according to Hickey's summary of the amendment. The faculty passed all of the amendments unanimously.

Also at the faculty meeting, University President Frederick Lawrence announced that this year's senior class broke the senior class fund-raising record with their class gift, with 72 percent contributing as of Thursday. Lawrence said that he and his wife, Prof. Kathy Lawrence (ENG), would match the class' contribution.

Finally, University Registrar Mark Hewitt provided some statistics about the graduating class. He said that of the 832 students who received Bachelor's degrees, 39 percent were double majors, which is four percent lower than last year. He also announced that the number of Ph.D.s given this year was lower than last year, while the number of master's degrees rose.
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