At their Jan. 17 meeting, members of the Faculty Senate got their first look at the proposed reorganization plan for the College of Design. The senate will vote next month on a recommendation -- in favor or against -- to the executive vice president and provost.
The plan calls for expansion from four to seven departments, including:
- Architecture
- Community and regional planning
- Graphic design
- Industrial design
- Integrated studio arts
- Interior design
- Landscape architecture
"We had very specific strategic ideas," said Susan Bradbury, associate professor in community and regional planning and chair of the college's liaison council that developed the plan. "We wanted to enhance multidisciplinary opportunities and, particularly, be able to put together new degree options. We wanted to be able to capitalize on teaching efficiencies; we wanted to expand our research opportunities throughout the whole college; and we wanted to get more equitable opportunities and representation in visibility for all of the programs that were in the college."
She said the move would "give equal footing to all of the programs that exist within the college." More than 83 percent of college faculty who participated in a November survey approved of the plan (77 of 122 eligible faculty voted).
Elections
Ann Marie VanDerZanden resigned as the senate's current president-elect after being named director of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. Suzanne Hendrich, chair of the academic affairs council and University Professor in food science and human nutrition, was elected to take over the post. Hendrich ran unopposed and immediately assumed president-elect duties.
Elections also were held for the 2012-13 president-elect. Veronica Dark, a professor in psychology, earned the majority vote. Dark, who currently serves as the senate's secretary, ran against Kevin Amidon, associate professor in world languages and cultures and Annemarie Butler, associate professor in philosophy and religious studies.
Other business
Senators also unanimously approved:
- A name change for the department of curriculum and instruction's educational computing minor, to learning technologies minor
- Discontinuation of the zoology graduate minor (master's of science and Ph.D.)
