(Since then, according to Brinton, the University has agreed to five exchanges of equity for licenses--some of which have come about after consultation with deans and other academic officers.)

If committee members are upset about the Corporation's actions, Carnesale and Proctor blame Green, who wrote the report, for not completing it on time.

"We did not know then when the [report would arrive]," Carnesale said. "The report was already substantially later than expected."

Carnesale also pointed to the fact that a member of his office, Assistant Provost for Policy and Planning Sarah Wald, was a member of the committee and would presumably have been kept informed of changes in recommendations.

"If members of the committee were not informed of subsequent drafts...I do confess that that's not something that occurred to me," Carnesale said. "That would not be where logic would ordinarily lead one."

But Green said the administration should have made efforts to consult a faculty member of the committee.

"I think, first of all, that I was a phone call away, and I do consider myself the resident expert [on the issue] at this point," Green said. "If they wanted to consult anybody, they had the list of people on the committee, [who were also] just a phone call away."

Green also said that he kept the administration informed of his progress. He had sent a follow-up note to Carnesale on July 5, explaining that the report would be ready within two weeks. At the time, he attributed the delay the need to "incorporate references to and assure consistency with [National Institutes of Health] materials that have only recently become available."

Beyond that, Green said, Rudenstine should have consulted the faculties at large before putting the issue before the Corporation.

"The questions raised strike so close to the heart of the academic enterprise that it is inappropriate for administrators to make these decisions without substantial faculty input," Green said.

Five of the seven faculty members of the committee said they did not know about the new policy. The remaining members could not be reached for comment.

Many on the committee agreed that if anyone from the committee should have been contacted, it was Green.

Other faculty members said the administration should have consulted the faculty.

"I would really think that issues that affect things like patent policy, licensing agreements--they have big impacts, potentially,...on [several schools]," said McKay Professor of Mechanical Engineering Frederick H. Abernathy, who was not on the committee.

"It is very hard for anyone, no matter how wise they are, to understand what is going on in every discipline from the Medical School to the School of Public Health to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences," he added.