Student Union President Jason Gray '10 and Ph. D. Jane Harries will sit as non voting student representatives on the Curriculum and Academic Restructuring Steering Committee, according to information sent out by e-mail from the Undergraduate Student Union and the Graduate Student Association.Provost Marty Krauss announced Tuesday her appointment of Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe and Profs. Steven Burg (POL) and Ilan Troen (NEJS) to the committee. The Faculty Senate appointed Profs. Sabine von Mering (GRALL), Sacha Nelson (BIOL) and Sarah Lamb (ANTH). Krauss and the Faculty Senate jointly appointed Profs. Susan Dibble (THA), Timothy Hickey (COSI) and Robin Feuer Miller (GRALL).

"We were trying to make sure that we had people who know universities well and had strong experience in curricular and administrative functions," Krauss said.

"A number of the faculty at the meeting . said it was important to involve students, [and Gray] made it clear that he thought there should be representatives of the Student Union on the committees, and [faculty] agreed," Jaffe said in an interview. Jaffe explained the students were non voting members on the committee because "ultimately the curriculum at Brandeis is the responsibility of the faculty," but added that it was not certain whether the Steering Committee would conduct votes.

Last Sunday, the Student Union Senate confirmed 10 student representatives out of 30 applicants to four sub committees; the students were chosen by Gray, Union Director of Academic Affairs Anum Khan '10 and Chair of the Provost's Advisory Committee Adam Ross '09.

Lydia Flier '11 and Senator for the Class of 2011 Lev Hirschhorn will serve on the Third Semester committee; Matthew Shear '11, Ron Kendler '09 and former Union Director of Community Development Ryan McElhaney '10 will serve on the Degree Requirements committee; Mariel Gruszko '10, Jamie Fleishman '11 and Senator-at-Large Justin Sulsky '09 will serve on the Admissions Committee and Murat Kemahlioglu '10 and Matthew Wright '09 will serve on the Business Major committee.

The admissions committee will focus on how to "figure out ways to better communicate what we already do" to prospective students, Jaffe said at the Faculty Meeting. The Third Semester Committee will examine the ways in which a summer program would relate to the spring and the fall semesters. The Degree Requirements committee will consider "how we think about the liberal arts," Jaffe said.

"I think it's an impressive group of students who are across a range of class years, majors, minors [and] experiences . and have a desire to solicit additional student involvement, as much as possible," Gray said.

Jaffe explained that in the last week of February, the School Council and the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee will review any proposals for academic changes from the subcommittees, with final decisions on the proposals projected for release the first week of March, before the Board of Trustees meeting.