Council’s approval of changes to colleges to save money, establish new programs

Regina Garcia Cano

Changes in the College and Graduate School of Education, Health and Human Services, the College of Communication and Information and Library and Media Services were approved yesterday at the Educational Policies Council.

Here’s a look at how the changes will affect students in different colleges.

College and Graduate School of Education, Health and Human Services

&bull The College and Graduate School of Education, Health and Human Services will be reorganized from three departments and three schools, to four schools.

The college will eliminate two chairpersons and expects to save between $200,000 and $300,000, said Daniel Mahony, dean of the college.

The programs will remain the same and faculty will teach their regular classes.

The reorganization will be effective for faculty and staff in July 2009, and changes for students, programs and courses will take place in January 2010.

&bull Members of the EPC approved the establishment of the International Institute of Human Service Workforce Research and Development. The School of Family and Consumer Studies will host the institute.

According to the proposal, the institute will “conduct research pertaining to and promote the development of the human services workforce within the United States, Canada and (in the future) other countries.”

The institute will be in place during Fall 2009.

&bull A combined bachelor’s and master’s degree program in Gerontology and Nursing Home Administration was also approved at the meeting. The School of Family and Consumer Studies, in partnership with the College of Business Administration and Graduate School of Management, will run the program beginning in Spring 2010.

College of Communication and Information

&bull The establishment of a Center for the Study of Information and Religion was accepted at the meeting.

The mission of the center will be to ease research focused on diverse aspects of religion conducted in the field of library and information science, according to the proposal.

The center will start operating in Fall 2009 and the School of Library and Information Science will host it.

Libraries and Media Services

&bull The unit will change its name to University Libraries effective Fall 2009.

Mark Weber, dean of Library and Media Services, said the decision was made because the unit does not operate teleproductions anymore.

Mathematical Sciences

&bull The realignment of math remedial classes was also approved at the meeting.

Students will no longer be able to enroll in Fundamental Mathematics I-VI, instead they would have to register for Core Mathematics I-IV.

Contact academics reporter Regina Garcia Cano at [email protected].