The new approach would have all the agencies involved in the case convene ahead of time and determine their respective roles, to minimize the stress for the child.

In December the meteorological agency convened a conference of earthquake and volcano specialists to discuss the situation.

Later this month, the agency will convene a group of principals, counselors and other school officials in the Midwest to discuss its research.

At first, the agency convened an industry committee to work on the problem and told the committee that the amount of oxygen should be reduced to 10 percent.

The agency does not write guidelines itself, but instead convenes panels of experts from other institutions to do the work or contracts with outside organizations to study certain medical procedures.

Officials of the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that the agency would convene a panel of independent experts in January to discuss these issues.

Ostensibly interested in what security specialists and legal authorities on privacy issues thought of its Secure Flight plans, the agency convened an advisory group in January 2005.

The agency convened an advisory panel a year ago to discuss whether antidepressants cause children and teenagers to become suicidal.

She conceded, however, that the agency should probably have convened a meeting somewhere in the Northeast.

The agencies will convene panels to review applications for money from presenters, whose newly important curatorial role may be one of the major developments of dance in the 1990's.