In hopes to engage students in its search for a new dean, Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences launched a website last week to chronicle search committee progress and solicit student feedback.

The university is looking to replace Dean Jeffrey Henderson, who announced last summer that he plans to resign from his post in July 2007. Henderson, who came to BU in 1991 to head the classical studies department, has served as dean for five years.

Committee Chairman Charles Griswold said the website — bu.edu/cas/deansearch — allows the Boston University community to participate in the search process. The website asks the public to contribute suggestions for search firms to employ in the process and for nominations of candidates for the deanship. According to the site, all correspondence will be confidential, and contributors can choose to remain anonymous.

“We will listen very carefully to suggestions sent to us by students through the website,” Griswold said in an email. “Three student representatives — one an alternate — are on the committee itself.”

Griswold said the committee has already received suggestions from students regarding the search.

“We very much wish to reach out to the entire CAS community, alumni included,” the philosophy department chairman said. “We are convinced that excellent candidates for the position will emerge as a result of the personal efforts of the CAS community, and that in other ways as well, the search committee will benefit from the counsel and suggestions offered by faculty, staff, students and alumni.”

According to the website, the search committee will serve as an advisory committee to President Robert Brown and Provost David Campbell by defining the ideal CAS dean and presenting its recommendations for candidates qualified to fill the position.

BU spokesman Colin Riley said the website reflects Brown’s commitment to a thorough search process dependent on input from all the university’s constituencies.

“Most students are not tuned into the administrative process here at the university other than the ones they interact with,” Riley said, “so this is going to be something new, where they’ll have, right before them, access to sort of the progress of the search committee and the search process.”

Last year’s dean search committees for the School of Law and College of Engineering also launched websites.

“It’s a convenient way for the whole CAS community to keep track of the committee’s progress and to offer feedback and advice,” Henderson said in an email. “It can only increase visibility.”

Griswold, who as chairman will make all public statements regarding the search, stressed the committee’s need for confidentiality.

“As stated on the website, confidentiality is critical,” he said. “At the same time, we want to share as much information as we possibly can.”

Henderson said he will be available to the committee if it needs information but will otherwise not be involved. After he steps down, Henderson will remain in his position as a classical studies professor and will maintain his active research program.

“I expect also to be active in service to the college and university to the extent that I can be useful,” he said.