"They should be willing to give the new personthe room to make some decisions and conduct anindependent evaluation," King said.

The Search

Steiner said yesterday that he does not knowhow long the search will last.

"It will last...until we have a good candidateor candidates to recommend to the dean," Steinersaid. "It's going to take a little while toadvertise, look over the responses we get,evaluate them in some way, get them down to a moremanageable number and check references andrecommendations."

The search could take between three and sixmonths, Jewett estimated yesterday, which meansthat it could last until after Lewis, the new deanof the College, takes office on July 1.

No matter when the search ends, however, Jewettsaid he and Lewis will be certain to talk over thedecision before it is made.

Although Jewett said the job description is notin any way written to favor an internal candidate,he said he would like to see someone with "someknowledge of the [Harvard] community, ifpossible."

The committee's procedures will not be setuntil the group meets next week, Steiner said.After its members solidify the job description anddecide where to advertise the position, they willpublicize "right away," Steiner said.

There is no way of knowing how many people willapply for the post, Steiner added, although hespeculated that the number could be "a couple ofhundred."

He added that he is glad students are on thesearch committee.

"We have to have students participating in thisno matter what, because it affects an importantarea of many students' lives," Steiner said.

One of the two students on the committee--alsoone of those contacted for the Maull-Lewisreport--said she strongly agrees.

"I definitely think it's a good thing that thiscommittee has students on it," McNeill saidyesterday.

"I think our role will be to ensure as much aspossible that the new assistant dean will besomeone the students as well as the administrationcan count on," she said