“The fact-finder is not designed solely to streamline the process, but rather to work more quickly and work better,” he said. “A fact-finder can build up an expertise and sensitivity to cases that involve disputes among peers.”

And the changes should not affect the Ad Board’s rulings, Fithian said.

Harvey A. Silverglate, a criminal defense attorney, civil liberties litigator and author of The Shadow University: The Betrayal of Liberty on America’s Campuses, said he opposes the Ad Board’s procedural change.

“The problem with the Harvard Ad Board is that the board that judges the defendant’s fate does not get to see or hear the witnesses,” he said. “Nobody should vote on somebody’s fate if they haven’t heard the witnesses. For [the Ad Board] to reduce the number of people who do the interviews is going exactly in the wrong direction.”

Many students on campus question whether the Ad Board is qualified to deal with cases of rape and sexual assault at all.

Sarah B. Levit-Shore ’04, a member of the Coalition Against Sexual Violence, said she has mixed feelings about the Ad Board’s procedural changes.

“We’re glad that the Ad Board is looking at a way to change and improve its procedures on sexual assault cases, but it’s questionable whether sexual assault cases ought to be dealt with through the Ad Board,” she said.

Radcliffe Union of Students President Natalia A.J. Truszkowska ‘04 said she worries that a fact-finder can only relate to one gender.

“I think the sex of the fact-finder is a very important issue,” she said. “With a lack of a committee, you can only have one gender represented and the victim may not feel comfortable with that gender.”

Fithian said the Ad Board is in the process of using its first fact-finder, but he would not discuss the specifics of the pending case.

“I am confident that the Board’s ability to decide on these cases in a fair, consistent and well-informed way is going to remain pretty high,” he said. “I don’t want people in these cases to think they are guinea pigs. It’s wrong to think the Board itself has moved in a different direction. This is simply a change in how we gather information and convey it to the Board.”

The new procedures are printed on page 21 of the Ad Board’s Guide for Students, given to all undergraduates at registration.