Assistant Vice President for Students and Enrollment AppointedIn an e-mail to the Brandeis community, Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy announced the appointment of her assistant, Frank Urso, who came to the school in late November.

According to the e-mail, Urso will "oversee the financial and budget administration processes for the entire division and have responsibility for the overall management of the division's budget." Urso will lead projects and advise on institutional policy development and will help with the administration of the Student Activities Fee.

Urso comes from Harvard University, where he was a director in the office of Technology Services, worked in the Division of Research and Faculty Development and managed the offices of Intellectual Capital and Research Administration in the Harvard Business School. He also served as an instructor in the Harvard School of Continuing Education.

Urso received a B.S. in Finance from Boston College, an M.B.A from Bentley College, and an Ed.M. in Administration Planning and Social Policy from Harvard School of Education.

Keenyn McFarlane, the former assistant vice president and budget director for students and enrollment, departed at the end of November.

Perry Hanson to Retire in June

Vice President and Vice Provost for Library and Technology Services Perry Hanson will retire at the end of June, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter French and Provost Marty Krauss announced in a campuswide e-mail.

Hanson came to Brandeis in 1999, where one of his first duties was to implement the Brandeis UNet system, according to a fall 1999 article in the Brandeis reporter.

Beginning in January 2005, Hanson oversaw the integration of the Brandeis libraries and Technology Services into LTS, according to the e-mail.

A reception for Hanson will be held later in the spring.

A faculty and senior staff committee co-chaired by Prof. Tim Hickey (COSI) and Vice President Maureen Murphy and the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller will conduct a national search for a successor to Hanson.

Newspaper Program Expanded

As a trial starting this semester, USA Today and the Financial Times will be provided to undergraduates for free in addition to The New York Times and the Boston Globe, Union Treasurer Choon Woo-Ha '08 wrote in a campuswide e-mail.

The newspapers will be available starting at 10 a.m. at the Shapiro Campus Center information booth every weekday. Students must present their ID to receive the newspapers.

The program is provided by the New York Times and co-sponsored by the Student Union, the Office of the Senior Vice-President for Students and Enrollment and the Brandeis Bookstore.

Reappointment of Provost and Dean

The Faculty Senate Dec. 11 asked the Senate Council to recommend to University President Jehuda Reinharz that Provost Mary Krauss and Dean of Arts and Science Adam Jaffe be reappointed, because their contracts will expire at the end of this year.

Both Krauss and Jaffe attended the meeting to speak with Faculty Senate members about their accomplishments and faculty concerns.

According to the Faculty Senate minutes, Jaffe named a new faculty salary plan as one of the achievements of his work with the provost, the president and the faculty as a whole.

The three year catch-up plan to bring faculty salaries more in line with the median of the Association of American Universities has improved faculty morale and made Brandeis more competitive for new hires, he told the faculty. He also noted that $1 million had been added to the Arts and Science budget as part of the integrated plan.

Faculty Senate members expressed concerns that academic departments were losing authority to the administration. According to the minutes, he said that faculty members "have an important role to play in making broad policy at a relatively high level, setting priorities for the institution, especially on the academic side." He said he was strongly in favor of broader faculty involvement and more transparency in the decision process for appointments to departments and programs.

Krauss included the launch of the Science Complex Renewal project and leading the University through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges reaccreditation process among her accomplishments.

According to the Senate minutes, Krauss described "overcoming significant morale problems within the faculty" and establishing positive relationships with the Board of Trustees and the senior administration as some of the challenges of her 4 1/2 year term.

In response to a question by the Faculty Senate, Krauss stated that she wished to "repair the chilled atmosphere . in the area of faculty concerns."

The faculty senate queried how Krauss planned to address the need for repairs of the library. Krauss responded that an analysis had concluded that $50 million were needed to upgrade the library and that the University was now working on raising the necessary funds.

- Miranda Neubauer