The Brown Corporation will convene on College Hill this weekend for its fall meeting to formally receive gifts, oversee University business and discuss plans to improve Brown's international profile.
The University's top governing body, which consists of 12 fellows and 42 trustees, meets three times annually - in October, February and May. On Thursday and today, its 11 standing committees were scheduled to meet to review everything from physical development projects to academic affairs to investment strategies. The full Corporation will meet later today for its strategic planning discussion and again Saturday for its general business meeting.
At the strategic planning session, President Ruth Simmons will deliver her regular report on the status of the University and will emphasize her vision for how Brown can increase its international profile and programs, said Marisa Quinn, assistant to the president.
"The internationalization of Brown will dominate those discussions," said Mark Nickel, director of University communications.
In recent months, Simmons has called for the University to expand its international visibility. On a trip to China in June, Simmons met academic leaders there, and told The Herald in September that she was concerned Brown doesn't "necessarily have the profile of a global university."
Simmons also brainstormed with her cabinet at its summer retreat on how to better focus the University's resources abroad and spoke on those themes at the monthly faculty meeting last Tuesday.
Professor of Economics Ross Levine, Professor of Geological Sciences Karen Fischer and Professor of Classics Susan Alcock, director of the Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, will all speak at the strategic discussion session about the international scope of their research, Quinn said.
At yesterday's Campus Life Committee meeting, Interim Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Russell Carey '91 MA'06 discussed options for expanding undergraduate housing, as well as a Facilities and Design Committee meeting, Quinn said.
The new provost, dean of the College and vice president for research will all meet members of the Corporation at today's meeting of the Academic Affairs Committee, which the provost staffs, Quinn said.
The full Corporation will then meet again on Saturday to receive reports, approve resolutions and formally accept gifts to the University. Any gift over $1 million must be approved by the Corporation, Nickel said.
At Tuesday's faculty meeting, Simmons also hinted that the Corporation would consider a change in financial aid policies, though the magnitude and scope of such a change remain unclear.
Four new trustees, who were elected at the Corporation's May meeting, will begin their six-year terms this weekend as they are officially "engaged" into the Corporation, Nickel said.
Members of the Corporation will also be attending the dedication of Sidney Frank Hall for the Life Sciences, which opens today. Chancellor Stephen Robert '62 P'91, the Corporation's leader, "will make a formal declaration that Brown is receiving the building from the contractors and architects as official University property," said Michael Chapman, vice president for public affairs and University relations.
According to a Sept. 25 University press release, Simmons will also confer an honorary degree on Susan Hockfield, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is the keynote speaker at the building's dedication.
