Administrators announced earlier this year that they will renovate a portion of Quincy House in 2012, which Faust said will serve as a test case for future renewal projects.

“What Quincy will enable us to do is get a sense of what we discover when we take the pieces of the building apart and what we discover about the logistics of renewal,” Faust said.

While University leaders agree that the campaign will focus on House renovation, several members of the FAS administration say there is less clarity about the fate of Harvard’s properties in Allston.

According to one administrator with knowledge of discussions surrounding the capital campaign, Allston will play a significant role in the capital campaign as plans to establish the Allston properties as a center for science research remain on the table. Administrators have also entertained the idea of building one or more residential houses in Allston, but exact plans for the development’s future remain shrouded in uncertainty.

The University had originally planned to build a $1 billion Science Complex in Allston, potentially in addition to a neighborhood of undergraduate houses. Harvard broke ground on the Science Complex, but halted construction in December 2009 due to financial constraints.

IN THE EARLY STAGES

Before the public start of a capital campaign—a specified period of targeted fundraising—administrators solicit gifts from large donors in a quiet phase. During this phase, the University determines its priorities and sets monetary objectives accordingly.

Current fundraising efforts are largely focused on soliciting donations from the most generous donors, and the results of this outreach will influence later planning.

These fundraising efforts are not public and have been discussed as part of the planning process for the eventual campaign.

“As I have indicated several times, the FAS is in the process of planning for an eventual University-wide campaign,” Smith said in a statement.

FAS is not responsible for the timing of the University-wide campaign but will help in the fundraising efforts.

According to Rogers, institutions will often raise a one-third to 40 percent of the total goal in the quiet phase—which includes pledges, gifts, and planned giving—before the public launch.

As of yet, no date for the public launch has been set.

LONG TIME COMING

The University originally began the quiet phase of a capital campaign in 2005, but those plans were suspended after the rocky departure of then-University president Lawrence H. Summers. The capital campaign was further delayed by the financial crisis that followed.