Faculty members on the Task Force on Undergraduate Education will try to keep an open mind when the committee meets for the first time Thursday, they told The Herald.
The committee's three student members were selected by the Undergraduate Council of Students in early March, and faculty appointments were announced March 20 in a campus-wide e-mail from Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 and Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron.
The task force, which will undertake a broad review of the College and its curriculum, comprises 13 members, including 10 faculty members. Bergeron and Dean of the Graduate School Sheila Bonde, who both have faculty appointments, will also represent the University administration.
"I've done no preparation other than to come (to the meeting) with an open mind," said Professor of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences Sheila Blumstein, a member of the task force and former dean of the College and interim president of the University.
"I think (the meeting) is an opportunity for all of us to meet each other and hear what Dean Bergeron has to say, as I'm sure she will elaborate on what the task force's charge is," she said of the committee's first meeting Thursday.
Many other faculty appointees said that they too are waiting to hear from Bergeron at Thursday's meeting. They have received little information on the committee's planned course of action, they said.
Bonde told The Herald she is waiting to hear what questions Bergeron hopes the task force will answer about the College, though she added they have already spoken briefly about the committee's role.
Like many other members of the committee, Professor of Neuroscience Michael Paradiso said he knows little about why he was asked to join.
"I suppose just being heavily involved in undergraduate education at Brown for a number of years, and being interested in the program," Paradiso said of the reasons for his selection on the committee.
Both Blumstein and Bonde said their long careers at the University are likely reasons they were chosen. Blumstein, while dean of the College, authored a report in 1990 that was similar in scope to the task force's goals, and Bonde's position as a liaison to the Graduate School brings diversity to the group.
Blumstein's report included a detailed look at the New Curriculum and proposed ways in which the administration could improve upon the system.
Bonde was awarded a Royce Family Professorship in Teaching Excellence, an honor bestowed upon faculty "who have demonstrated innovation in teaching and strong dedication to students' intellectual development," The Herald reported in November 2004. Task force member Barrymore Bogues, professor of Africana studies and chair of the department, also received the award that year.
Bonde said the award gave her and Bogues the chance to reexamine the University's curriculum and that "we bring some knowledge of the fruits of those conversations" to the task force.
With their backgrounds in undergraduate education - or in the links between graduate and undergraduate programs, in Bonde's case - the committee's new members said they are interested in the task force's charge.
Blumstein said the "broad-based approach" the committee will take in evaluating the New Curriculum will consider concentrations and the advising system.
"How's the faculty doing with respect to it's goals of teaching the curriculum and making sure the curriculum stays vibrant and exciting?" Blumstein said.
"Brown has always been proud of being a leader, not a follower," Paradiso said. He also said adaptations were necessary elements of the New Curriculum and that he would look to students first for input on how to change the College for the better.
For Bonde, the task force's members will draw ideas from the campus community by "brainstorming and listening."
"I think we'll be consulting broadly. All of us have constituencies, we are all representative of a pretty broad swathe (of the campus)," Bonde said.
The faculty members of the Task Force are Bergeron, Bonde, Bogues, Paradiso, Associate Professor of Chemistry Amit Basu, Associate Professor of History Deborah Cohen, Professor of Political Science James Morone, Professor of Mathematics Jill Pipher and Professor of Comparative Literature Arnold Weinstein.
