An advisory committee of leading scholars and academics will help the new Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study with its initial long-term planning, President Neil L. Rudenstine announced last week.

Appointed by Rudenstine earlier this month, the committee--comprised entirely of scholars from outside Harvard--will serve as an ad hoc group to help define the Institute's academic focus in coming years.

"The committee can take a good look at academic uses and develop strategies for the new Institute," Radcliffe spokesperson Mike Armini said.

The 12-member committee currently includes Phillip Griffiths, Director of the Institute for Advanced Study, Frank Rhodes, president emeritus of Cornell and Alison Richard, Yale's provost.

Members of the group, which Rudenstine said he hoped would finish its work by the end of the fall semester, will advise incoming dean Drew Faust on how the Institute can fulfill its stated mission to study women, gender and society.

Faust begins full time at Radcliffe in January.

The committee will be charged with helping to resolve some of the questions last year's merger between Radcliffe and Harvard did not settle.

Rudenstine wrote in a letter to the Harvard and Radcliffe communities that the agreement between the Harvard and Radcliffe governing boards was left deliberately general so that the first dean and her colleagues could plan the details.

"[The Boards] did not attempt to create a detailed agenda and set of specific new academic initiatives for the Institute," Rudenstine wrote.

Now that it is time for Radcliffe to work out the specifics, Faust has begun to consult with Radcliffe alumnae and other members of the academic community.

Members of the advisory committee were appointed by Rudenstine after consultation with Radcliffe officials, according to Armini.

"Both acting dean Dunn and dean-elect Faust worked closely with President Rudenstine every step of the way," he said.

With no representative of Harvard on the committee, the group will help the Institute forge an independent identity and "realize the full benefits to be gained from the fact that the Institute has a strong identity of its own, with a mission far beyond Harvard, while also being an integral part of the University," Armini said.

"We are thrilled at the opportunity to work with this committee," he said. "We believe it is of the highest caliber."