Mahan was quick to respond to the allegations of not being consulted on the issue in another e-mail to the council’s open list.

“I apologize for [the e-mail sent to the House e-mail lists] not making [the] UC General [open list] earlier. I thought it went to all house lists and UC General, but apparently it only went to the house lists,” Mahan wrote to the council.

Mahan maintained that the recommendation was his personal view and was not made on behalf of the council as a whole.

“Regardless, [constituent concerns and questions] is not something you should be answering for me—it is not a UC decision,” Mahan wrote. “I am simply going to recommend a two-year phase-in and I felt that the student body should know before the Crimson found out. The deans will do whatever they like, including possibly postponing this for a year or two despite the referendum.”

Mahan said he consulted with half a dozen members of the council as well as other students and administrators before he made his final decision on Tuesday.

While council members objected to the way the proposal was handled, representatives on both sides of the increase question seemed to approve of the phase-in of the fee.

“I think the policy itself makes sense—I don’t think the UC can handle the budget of a full $75 increase in one year,” former council member Joshua A. Barro ’05 said.

In his e-mail to Lowell House last night, Mahan offered the same rationale for the phase-in—a rare instance of agreement between Barro and Mahan on any facet of the termbill fee increase.

Barro, who led the opposition to the increase and resigned from the council after the referendum passed, also said the phase-in will allow the council to see how students feel about the council’s ability to handle the increase.

“I also think it will allow us to see how the number of opt-outs change next year,” said Barro, in reference to the number of students who choose not to pay the optional fee.

Russell M. Anello ’04, author of the original bill to increase the Student Activites Fee, also posted an e-mail in support of Mahan’s change.

“I believe there is enough need to raise it immediately to $75, but a phase-in would give the UC some time to get used to increased revenue and decide whether any structural changes need to take place before taking charge of the full 75 dollar fee,” Anello wrote.

During its meeting on Wednesday, the Faculty Council dealt with a few other Faculty issues.

The Council heard reports on the progress of the Committee to Address Alcohol and Health at Harvard and on the creation of a new African Studies concentration in the Department of African and African-American Studies.

Currier House Master Joseph L. Badaracco, a professor at Harvard Business School, said the alcohol and health committee’s work is still in progress, but he plans to give Gross a final report by the end of this academic year.