Public debate over the proposed addition of pluses and minuses to the grading system will likely occur in late February or early March at a University-wide forum instead of at a faculty forum as previously suggested, University officials said Tuesday.
The University-wide forum will be hosted by the College Curriculum Council and the Graduate Council.
The CCC passed a resolution Jan. 31 requesting that the Faculty Executive Committee call a faculty forum to discuss the proposed addition of pluses and minuses. The CCC had planned to vote on the proposal after the forum.
"The CCC proposed to the FEC that the FEC hold a faculty forum because that's the means by which, according to faculty rules, you convene faculty for more extended discussion," said Dean of the College Paul Armstrong, who chairs the CCC.
But the FEC leadership wrote to the CCC Friday requesting that a University-wide forum be held in place of the requested faculty forum, Armstrong said.
Professor of Physics Robert Pelcovits, the FEC chair, told the faculty at its monthly meeting Tuesday that it was more appropriate to bring together students and faculty in a community-wide setting than a faculty forum that does not provide for student input.
Armstrong told The Herald that the CCC will consider the FEC's request at its next meeting Tuesday, adding that he expects that the council will accept it. The CCC will then consider the best format for the forum so that "all the different sides of the issue get aired," he said.
The forum will probably be held on a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon - a time when few classes are held - in late February or early March.
The forum will be hosted by both the CCC and the Grad Council because the grading changes would affect both grad students and undergraduates, Armstrong said.
The Faculty Rules and Regulations, which outlines the University's grading policy, does not contain any provisions for Grad School grading, so the Grad School has traditionally adhered to the undergraduate grading system, Armstrong said.
The final proposal submitted to the faculty will include a provision for undergraduate grading proposed by the CCC and one for graduate grading from the Grad Council.
Also at Tuesday's faculty meeting, President Ruth Sim-mons looked ahead at her next five years leading the University.
In the five years since she assumed the University's pres-idency, Simmons oversaw rapid growth and change fueled by the Plan for Academic Enrichment. An increase in the size of the faculty, introduction of the First Year Seminar program and physical expansion marked the first half-decade of Simmons' time at the University.
But she expressed concerns that the pace of change is slowing. In particular, Simmons said that the University "needs to do whatever (it) can" to keep the College competitive, especially in light of recent ambitious moves and "gains" by the University's traditional competitors.
The University continues to be very selective in undergraduate admission and is in no imminent danger of losing its standing, Simmons said, but administrators must always strive to keep the University "desirable."
To that end, Simmons told the faculty that she appointed Provost Robert Zimmer to lead a committee focused on the future of the undergraduate College, emphasizing Brown's international profile, its ad-visory programs, undergraduate housing, financial aid and developments in engineering and the sciences.
