Between the biting criticism and outraged rants of several faculty members and students, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Astrid Merget defended the University’s plan on Tuesday to restructure and re-name nearly every academic college on campus. “We had to start somewhere,” Merget said about the plan, which she presented to more than 300 people at the Provost-Chancellor Forum in the Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex. Many faculty members complained they have been left out of the restructuring planning process, which began several months ago. “If you got all 1,500 faculty in one room and said, ‘what should we do?,’ we’d get 1,500 different answers,” Merget said. “We’ve been around, seeking public comment — some of which is polemical, some of which is earnest. We’ve learned some things.” In a broadcast e-mail sent March 27, Merget said changes in the configurations, names and reporting lines of several academic units on campus were coming. “These changes are the result of extensive study and evaluation by the administration and several top faculty members at LSU,” Merget said in the e-mail. But many faculty members said there was not enough communication between the administration and the faculty about the changes, which, if approved by the Board of Supervisors and Board of Regents, will go into effect July 1. “This is second-hand information that has never been discussed,” library and information science professor Boryung Ju told Merget. Under the plan, the School of Library and Information Science would be in the newly-structured College of Education and Human Professions.
Merget said, under the plan, “colleges” will be the top academic units on campus, while “schools” will be within colleges. A dean will reside as the head of a college while the schools will have their leaders as well. Many faculty members said they agree with the idea of reorganizing colleges, but maintain they have been left out of the process. “Reorganizations of colleges or units, per se, is fine — in fact we should be doing that,” said physics professor A.R.P. Rau. “But I think it’s much better if it’s discussed at greater length among the faculty because there is a lot of expertise in the faculty.” Kevin Cope, Faculty Senate president, said he was pleased with how the heated meaning went, but that the faculty had little to do with the information presented. “[The plan] appeared over the horizon and surprised many,” said Kevin Cope, Faculty Senate president. Cope said the forum, however, was a great opportunity for faculty input, which he’s hopeful will increase as the process moves forward. Several other forums, all designed like town-hall meetings, have been held throughout the school year — something past administrators haven’t done, Cope said. Recently the forums have focused on possible budget cuts for next fiscal year. Chancellor Michael Martin said these structural changes aren’t part of an attempt to save money in the face of an expected nearly $50 million reduction in state funding next year. Rather the changes will better align the University toward completing and sustaining the Flagship Agenda — the plan to make the University nationally competitive by 2010. But, Martin said the restructuring could be used as a strategy to persuade legislators to lessen the cuts to the campus. “As part of our strategy we have to demonstrate — whether we’re right or wrong in this particular moment — that we are at least willing to consider ways in which we can be better with the resources we do have,” he said. Merget said the changes will not affect students’ degree programs. She said administrators at colleges and schools that would be merged would not be laid off and will not have to take a pay cut. “We are not changing any of the degree requirements or any of the department faculties,” Merget said.NAMES OF COLLEGES UNDER THE REALIGNMENT PLAN:1. The College of Human and Social Sciences, currently the College of Arts and Sciences.2. The College of Science, currently the College of Basic Sciences. 3. The College of Education and Human Professions, currently the College of Education. 4. The College of Art and Design5. The College of Engineering 6. The College of Agriculture 7. The College of Business, currently the E.J. Ourso School of Business 8. The College of the Coast and the Environment 9. The Graduate College10. The College of Mass Communications, currently the Manship School of Mass Communication  11. The College of Veterinary Medicine12. The College of Music and Dramatic Arts13. The Honors College 14. The University CollegeSome changes will include: -The economics department and the public administration institute will be moved into the College of Human and Social Sciences from the College of Business. The department of experimental statistics will be moved from the College of Agriculture to the College of Human and Social Sciences. -Mathematics will move to the College of Science from the College of Arts and Science. -Kinesiology, the University Laboratory School, social work, library and information sciences, family, child and consumer science, human resource education and workforce development and communication sciences and disorders will all move into the College of Education and Human Professions. -The College of Art and Design will include the textiles, apparel design and merchandising program, currently in the College of Agriculture. – Sometime after July 1, the College of Engineering will include biological engineering and agricultural engineering. Both programs are currently in the College of Agriculture.–Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]