The last time Brown University was looking for a dean of medicine and biological sciences, the university appointed an interim dean and empaneled a 21-person search committee representing just about everyone who could possibly care.

The process of searching the nation for just the right person — Dr. Eli Y. Adashi — took almost three years.

And that’s about how long Adashi lasted before announcing plans to step down. He gave no reason publicly.

Now, in looking for Adashi’s replacement, Brown is taking a radically different approach that has caught some people by surprise. Instead of a vast, inclusive search committee, an eight-member faculty advisory group will compile a list of candidates. Instead of a national search, the plan calls for finding somebody already at Brown. And instead of years of effort, the goal is to have a full-fledged dean ready to take the reins as soon as Adashi leaves on July 1.

“It just seems very odd,” said Dr. Roy M. Poses, a Brown alumnus and voluntary faculty member who practices internal medicine. “A lot of people think it’s very unusual and some are upset.”

In contrast to the last search, and most Brown searches, Poses noted that the committee includes no students, no alumni, no voluntary faculty (practicing physicians who help teach students and residents) and no one from outside the division of biology and medicine.

But Associate Provost Pamela G. O’Neil said Brown needs a small, nimble group that can fill the post quickly. “We wanted to keep the forward momentum going,” O’Neil said, mentioning the expanded medical student body, the plans for a new medical school building, recent faculty hires and efforts to build closer ties with the hospitals.

She said university officials consulted widely with faculty and hospital leaders, “and the feeling was that this seemed to be so important, this forward momentum.” All the usual constituencies will be consulted — but having all of them serve on the committee “would just be such a cumbersome process it would slow everything down,” O’Neil said.

O’Neil said the faculty advisory committee has met once and spent the time talking about “how to solicit input from a broader group.” Meetings are planned with faculty chairmen on and off campus and the student senate. The committee will ask for input on the type of candidate it should consider. Then it will present a “short list” of candidates to President Ruth J. Simmons, who will make a recommendation to the Brown Corporation, the university’s governing body.

The new dean will serve “a regular term,” which is usually three years, O’Neil said. But this dean will not be an “interim”; he or she will be “fully empowered,” she said. As the dean’s term draws to a close, the university will consider whether to conduct a national search.

Brown’s choice of dean matters outside the university because of the medical school’s affiliation with seven hospitals and its role in bringing research dollars and top doctors to Rhode Island. The chief executive officers of several hospitals had served on the search committee that selected Adashi.

“We want to do everything to strengthen our relationship with the hospitals,” said O’Neil. “Hopefully having an internal candidate will help us do that.” She said Provost David I. Kertzer and Simmons will communicate regularly with hospital administrators. Additionally, the committee includes four Brown faculty members who also have important roles at the hospitals, such as Dr. Andrew W. Artenstein, physician-in-chief at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, and Dr. Brian J. Zink, chairman of emergency medicine at Rhode Island Hospital and Miriam Hospital.

Asked for an opinion on the dean search, John J. Hynes, chief executive officer of the Care New England hospital group, had no comment.

Jane Bruno, spokeswoman for Lifespan, the other big hospital group, said her organization was comfortable with the approach Brown has taken. “There has been considerable outreach and discussion with the Lifespan senior leadership,” she said. “We’re confident in the way the process is being structured.”

ffreyer@projo.com