Trustees Approve College Restructuring

THREE COLLEGES TO MAKE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES

     COLUMBUS --  Three colleges at The Ohio State University
will make major changes in their departments by combining some
programs.  The restructuring plans for the colleges of
Agriculture, Engineering and Veterinary Medicine were approved
Friday (6/3) by the Board of Trustees.

     The College of Agriculture will reduce its departments from
11 to eight, and realign two programs.  The College of
Engineering will reorganize its 15 departments to eight.  The
College of Veterinary Medicine will combine three departments to
form a new unit to focus on basic science education and research.

     The three plans are just the beginning of a university-wide
restructuring, according to Richard Sisson, senior vice president
for academic affairs and provost.  On Feb. 1, all 19 colleges and
University Libraries submitted plans for administrative
restructuring.

     "Since November, we have examined what we do and how well we
do it," Sisson said.  "Reinvestment and renewal required us to
consider significant change within and across colleges apart from
budget considerations."

     Administrative changes do not impact academics, such as
degree programs or curriculums.  Proposals for such changes that
result from restructuring will be considered separately.

     The College of Agriculture changes center around five
priorities: Managing and using production resources, developing
food and other agricultural products, enhancing environmental
quality, assessing social and economic change, and developing
human resources.

     "The driving force behind this plan is enhancing our ability
to attract and adequately serve students, to better meet the
needs of our external clients and to position the college to
flourish in the years ahead," said Bob Moser, dean of the College
of Agriculture.

     The changes are:
     =FE  Realigning rural sociology from the Department of
Agricultural Economics to the Department of Agricultural
Education.
     =FE  Combining the departments of Animal Science, Dairy
Science and Poultry Science into a single department.
     =FE  Combining the agronomic crops program with the Department
of Horticulture.
     =FE  Combining the soils program with the School of Natural
Resources.

     The departments of Agricultural Engineering, Food Science
and Technology, and Plant Pathology will not be restructured.

     The College of Engineering restructuring will help the
faculty in the eight new departments to concentrate on six "Key
technologies":  Advanced materials, manufacturing,
transportation, advanced information technologies and high
performance computing, environment, and bioengineering.

     Collecting together faculty who have similar interests will
encourage the "possibilities of cross-disciplinary teaching and
research," said Jose B. Cruz Jr., dean of the College of
Engineering.

     The changes are:
     =FE  Combining civil engineering and engineering graphics.
     =FE  Combining aeronautical and astronautical engineering,
engineering mechanics, and aviation.
     =FE  Combining industrial and systems engineering with welding
engineering.
     =FE  Consolidating School of Architecture departments --
Architecture, City and Regional Planning and Landscape
Architecture -- into a single unit.

     There are no changes to the interdisciplinary program in
biomedical engineering and the departments of Chemical
Engineering, Computer and Information Science, Electrical
Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Mechanical
Engineering.

     The College of Veterinary Medicine faculty feel
restructuring will help them reach the college's goals: An
excellent, comprehensive professional curriculum; promoting
excellence in research in order to improve the health of animals,
assure the wholesomeness of food animal products, and contribute
to the understanding of basic mechanisms of disease; providing an
intellectual environment that enhances scholarly activity;
educating future academicians and research scientists; and
providing continuing education and consultation for veterinarians
and Ohio citizens.

     The change is:
     =FE  Combining the departments of Veterinary Anatomy and
Cellular Biology, Veterinary Pathobiology and Veterinary
Physiology and Pharmacology.

     "The new department will provide a primary link to the
biomedical community at Ohio State," said Glen F. Hoffsis, dean
of the College of Veterinary Medicine.  "The administrative
restructuring has the potential of connecting the college to the
recent university-wide initiative in molecular life science
research."

     There are no changes to the departments of Veterinary
Clinical Sciences and Veterinary Preventive Medicine.

                                #
Contacts:
     Richard Sisson, vice president for academic affairs and
provost, (614) 292-5881.
     Bob Moser, vice president for agricultural administration
and dean of the College of Agriculture, (614) 292-1889.
     Jose B. Cruz Jr., dean of the College of Engineering, (614)
292-2836.
     Glen F. Hoffsis, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine,
(614) 292-6661.


[Submitted by: REIDV  (reidv@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Fri, 03 Jun 1994 16:33:57 -0500 (EST)]
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