Ohio State#s ag college completes restructuring

                                                       7-8-94

OHIO STATE'S AGRICULTURE COLLEGE COMPLETES RESTRUCTURING

     COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Months of restructuring discussion came to
fruition Friday (7/8) for The Ohio State University College of
Agriculture.  The university's Board of Trustees approved
renaming the college as the College of Food, Agricultural, and
Environmental Sciences.

     At the same time, Bobby D. Moser, Ohio State's vice
president for agricultural administration, announced appointments
of people to chair three of the academic units within the newly
restructured college.

     "The new name better reflects the academic, research and
service missions of the college," Moser said. "In many ways,
we're merely reinforcing our mission through our name.  This
college addresses a diverse set of issues and we want to make
sure that all our current and future clientele understand that."

     "Agriculture" programs at Ohio State have grown to include
food production from farm to kitchen, as well as a host of non-
farm disciplines related to the environment and rural life, Moser
said.  Yet that distinction isn't always recognized by potential
students or the general public that benefits from college
research and Extension education programs, he said.  The new name
should help.

     The name change also reflects the college's growing role in
the area of food and environmental sciences.  Several degrees in
these disciplines are offered through the college, and food and
environment have increasingly been part of research and
educational programs in recent years, Moser said.

     The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental
Sciences includes newly formed animal and plant departments, the
departments of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Education and
Rural Sociology, Plant Pathology, Agricultural Engineering and a
restructured School of Natural Resources.

     The Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster has been
restructured from five divisions to three divisions and remains a
part of the college.  The Ohio Agricultural Research and
Development Center and Ohio State University Extension are other
administrative units within the restructured college.

     Here's how academic units line up following the
restructuring and new appointments:

     -- A plant sciences department that includes horticulture
and agronomic crops faculty will be led by Luther Waters, pending
approval of the university's Board of Trustees. Waters was head
of the former Department of Horticulture.  Faculty in the new
department will choose a name this summer.

     -- A new department made up of the former animal science,
poultry science and dairy science departments will be headed by
David L. Zartman.  Zartman, former chair of the dairy science
department, also needs to be approved by the trustees.  Faculty
also will vote on a department name this summer.

     -- The School of Natural Resources now includes the soils
faculty from the old Department of Agronomy.  Frederick P.
Miller, former head of agronomy, will be the new director of the
school, pending approval of university trustees.

     -- The Department of Agricultural Education now includes
rural sociology faculty.  The department is chaired by Kirby R.
Barrick.

     -- The Department of Agricultural Economics no longer
includes rural sociology.  Stanley E. Thompson remains chair of
this group.  Trustees appointed Thompson to a new four-year term
through June 1988.

     -- Programs in the Department of Food Science and Technology
remain the same, with Kenneth Lee heading the department.

     -- The Department of Agricultural Engineering stayed the
same and Robert J. Gustafson remains chair.

     -- The Department of Plant Pathology also remained
unchanged, with Charles R. Curtis as chair.

     -- The Agricultural Technical Institute, under Director
William A. Anderson, restructured into three divisions.  The Arts
and Science and Business Division is to be headed by Richard J.
Niklas, the Agricultural Technologies Division by Steven M. Neal,
and the Horticulture Division by Gary A. Anderson.  These
appointments follow a recent announcement by the Board of
Trustees that ATI will begin offering a two-year associate of
science degree designed to transfer into four-year programs at
Ohio State.  The Ohio Board of Regents approved the new degree
program in June.

     Other key leaders within the College of Food, Agricultural,
and Environmental Sciences remain the same.  Associate deans of
the college include L.H. Newcomb as director of academic
programs, David Hansen as director of international programs,
Keith L. Smith as director of Extension, and Thomas Payne as
director of the OARDC.

                                #
                                
Contact:  Bobby D. Moser, (614) 292-1889, or Stan Ernst, news and
media relations coordinator, (614) 292-2011, Ernst.1@osu.edu

Written by Stan Ernst.


[Submitted by: STERRETT  (sterrett@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Fri, 08 Jul 1994 14:54:44 -0500 (EST)]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.