SOUTHEASTERN TO FORM NEW ACADEMIC COLLEGE
HAMMOND -- Southeastern Louisiana University
will reorganize its academic colleges to form a new College of Science
and Technology effective summer 2005, the university announced today (Jan.
11).
The newly named College of Science and Technology
will encompass the departments of Mathematics, Biological Sciences, and
Chemistry and Physics, departments presently housed within the College
of Arts and Sciences. A new combined Department of Computer Science
and Industrial Technology, two existing areas in the College of Business
and Technology, will also become part of the new college.
“The change is designed to allow more effective
management of Southeastern’s academic programs,” said Provost and Vice
President for Academic Affairs John Crain. “In addition, this should
provide a powerful opportunity for the pursuit and development of several
exciting initiatives, including new degree programs.”
Under the reorganization plan, which has been
approved by Southeastern’s governing board, the University of Louisiana
Board of Supervisors, the College of Business and Technology will be renamed
the College of Business. Additionally, the College of Arts and Sciences
will be changed to the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
It will encompass the departments of Communication, English, Foreign Languages
and Literature, Music and Dramatic Arts, Visual Arts, History and Political
Science, Sociology and Criminal Justice, and Psychology.
As Southeastern’s largest college, more than
3,500 students — almost one-quarter of the total student body — were enrolled
in the College of Arts of Sciences in fall 2004. “This reorganization
results in administrative units that are more manageable in size and scope,”
Crain said.
Tammy Bourg, current dean of the College of
Arts and Sciences, will serve as dean of the new College of Arts, Humanities,
and Social Sciences. Daniel McCarthy, presently the head of the department
of the Department of Chemistry and Physics, will assume the role of interim
dean of the College of Sciences and Technology.
“Dr. McCarthy will head up a transition task
force designed to ensure a smooth implementation of the new college,” Crain
said. He added that a national search for a permanent dean will be
conducted next year after the college is fully operational.
The reorganization will result in six academic
colleges at Southeastern and includes three areas not impacted by this
change. They are the College of Education and Human Development,
College of General Studies, and College of Nursing and Health Sciences. |