Tamar Ariel '10 and Danielle Wolfson '11 will serve as the Student Union director of Student Rights and Advocacy and director of Academic Affairs, respectively, according to Lev Hirschhorn '11 and Supreetha Gubbala '12, who formerly served in those roles before stepping down at the end of the fall 2009 semester. Lexi Kriss '11 and Nate Rosenblum '10 have been chosen to serve on the search committee for the new dean of Admissions, according to Student Union President Andy Hogan '11. Both Hirschhorn and Gubbala worked with Hogan to determine their replacements by interviewing potential candidates and discussing who would best fill the roles.

Kriss and Rosenblum were chosen after Hogan interviewed applicants and asked them about their experiences and what they would bring to the committee. In an interview with the Justice, Hogan said, "It was a very tough decision because there were so many qualified people."

The former dean of Admissions, Gil Villanueva, resigned his position July 1, 2009 and is now serving as the dean of admissions at the University of Richmond.

Hirschhorn stepped down from his position because he will be studying abroad next semester in the Czech Republic, while Gubbala wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that she resigned because "My personal passion for empowering women in third world . countries had provided me with a great realm of opportunities, that in order to accept I had to devote much time and effort to."

Both the director of Student Rights and Advocacy and the director of Academic Affairs are members of the Student Union executive board. According to a Dec. 1 e-mail to the student body from Hogan, "The Director of Student Rights and Advocacy is the head of the Student Union Office of Student Rights and Advocacy. . OSRA helps students navigate the conduct process."

In an e-mail interview with the Justice, Hirschhorn said that OSRA "is responsible for advocating for students in changing the conduct process to better meet student needs" and that one of Ariel's most important roles next semester will be ensuring that students are represented on all of the committees reviewing the campus conduct process.

Hogan said in his e-mail that the director of Academic Affairs "will be the link in the Student Union between academics and student life." In an e-mail to the Justice, Gubbala wrote, "This semester, I truly focused my time and energy upon reviving a strong relationship between student life and academics as we as a school face changes in both realms, academic overcrowding, and the creation of the Justice Brandeis Semester."

Gubbala also wrote that Wolfson's greatest challenge in the role will be maintaining the overall health of Brandeis' academia while considering student input in all academic decisions. Gubbala wrote, "After working with [Wolfson] for over a semester in academics, I have no doubt that she will surpass this challenge and any that come to her in this role."

According to Senior Vice Presidents for Students and Enrollments Jean Eddy, who is currently serving as the dean of Admissions, the students on the search committee "will be full members of the search committee. They will be reviewing resumes ... and interviewing candidates."

Rosenblum said in an interview with the Justice that he wanted to join the search committee because "I oversee the tour guide program, . and I understand how important it is to have a good dean who has really good insight and works really well with people." He also mentioned the importance of having a dean who is outgoing as well as internally driven and able to motivate the Admissions team. The search committee will also include Assistant Vice President of Students and Enrollment Frank Urso, Prof. Steven Burg (POL), Prof. Susan Lovett (BIOL), Dean of Student Financial Services Peter Giumette and Director of Athletics Sheryl Sousa '90. According to Eddy, the faculty members were selected from the admissions and financial aid faculty committee. Eddy also wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that she is "waiting to hear from the department" regarding adding an additional member to the committee-"a staff person who might add another perspective"-than those brought by faculty and students.

According to Eddy, the committee is making over 400 phone calls ahead of an extensive national search for Brandeis' new dean of Admissions. Among the qualities that Eddy said the committee will look for in applicants are broad experience in admissions, a vision of what college admissions will look like in the future, knowledge of technology, good people skills and a sense of humor.

-Erin Doniger contributed reporting.