A new 21-member faculty advisory committee will explore the feasibility of creating a veteran-focused college of medicine at Syracuse University, the university announced Wednesday.

The university first announced the idea of opening the medical school, which would train doctors and healthcare professionals to work at Veterans Administration hospitals across the country, in early August.

The committee will be responsible for getting input from faculty members regarding how SU’s different schools and colleges and students “could play a role in, and benefit from, a niche-focused college of medicine,” according to the release. The committee must submit a report of its findings to the chancellor by early October, according to the release. Sean O’Keefe, a University Professor, will chair the committee.

O’Keefe is also a University Professor and the Howard G. and S. Louise Phanstiel chair in strategic management and leadership at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He said in the release he is pleased that Syverud is seeking input from SU faculty before making a decision on the prospect of opening the school.

“We will do our best to organize our inputs to help inform his decision on the question of impact on the university from the faculty’s perspective,” O’Keefe said in the release.

The committee includes professors, chairs, directors and a dean from the College of Arts and Sciences, the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, the School of Architecture, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the College of Visual and Performing Arts, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and Upstate Medical University, according to the release.

The medical school would be “the first to focus on attracting, educating and placing physicians into VA hospitals and clinics around the country,” according to the release.