NS: BSU to Reorganize Colleges

I'd heard from some people at BSU that a restructuring plan had been presented, but I didn't know what it was until I happened to click on the Northern Student online edition. Pretty good article, and very interesting to me. I'm pasting it below because I have no idea how long the link will be good.

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Senate Holds Meeting to Discuss Reorganization of Colleges
Written by Emily Halla~Staff Writer
Wednesday, 31 October 2007

A mixture of feedback and emotions flared around the crowded Crying Wolf room at Wednesday’s Student Senate meeting. In a different setting than usual for the Senate meeting, Bemidji State students came to learn more about the college reorganization proposals that could take effect next year on campus. Last spring, BSU went through a budget readjustment that resulted in the formation of a committee that worked throughout the summer to find ways to reorganize the colleges.
Through the brainstorming came two proposed models that members of the committee are looking to gain feedback on.

Currently, there are three main colleges within Bemidji State: the College of Arts and Letters, the College of Professional Studies, and the College of Social and Natural Sciences. The committee has reorganized the positioning of programs in the following two models:


Model 1: Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business and Technology, Health Sciences and Human Ecology. This model would consist of three areas of study, all having an academic dean and associate vice president and also an associate dean for arts and sciences, which would be a new position. The areas of study under this model are the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Technology, and the College of Health Sciences and Human Ecology.


The College of Arts and Sciences would include Art History, Biology, Chemistry, Communication Arts, English, Environmental Studies, Geography, Geology, History, Indian Studies, Mathematics, Modern Languages, Music, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Sociology, Theatre, and Visual Arts.


The College of Business and Technology incorporates Accounting, Business, Computer Science, Economics, Mass Communication, and Technological Studies. Finally, the College of Health Sciences and Human Ecology contains the departments of Criminal Justice, Nursing, Physical Education/Health and Sport, Professional Education, Psychology and Social Work.


With this model, departments in the professional colleges and those in the College of Arts and Sciences will partner in agreed affiliations that would be reassessed during a five-year review and might rotate or change, depending on departmental developments and requests. This model would provide colleges with a primary focus and new opportunities for expansion while uniting departments for a more deliberate approach to liberal education programs.


Pat Rogers, the Dean of the College of Social and Natural Sciences acknowledged, “This model allows for growth of two smaller colleges [Arts and Sciences] and also helps shape the liberal education curriculum.”


Model 2: Signature Themes Colleges. This model, like the first, would also consist of three areas of study, each having an academic dean and associate vice president. The three colleges under this proposal would be the College of Civic Engagement, the College of Environmental Stewardship and the College of Global & Multicultural Understanding.


The College of Civic Engagement would include Communication Arts, Criminal Justice, Nursing, Philosophy, Physical Education/Health and Sport, Political Science, Professional Education, Psychology, Social Work, Theatre and Visual Arts. The College of Environmental Stewardship would contain Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Studies, Geology, Mass Communication, Mathematics, Physics and Technological Studies. The College of Global and Multicultural Understanding would consist of Accounting, Art History, Business, Computer Science, Economics, English, Indian Studies, Geography, History, Modern Languages, Music, and Sociology.


“This model allows growth for a different kind of synergy within departments. It gives college a flavor of signature themes and departments a shared vision,” Dean Rogers explained. The motivations proposed for this model substantiate university commitment to the signature themes by building them into an organizational structure. It would encourage cross-curriculum development by placing departments with shared interest within the same college while establishing secondary relationships with other colleges. It would also minimize department isolation and provide a new support for integrated learning.


Students hotly voiced concerns that if one of these models takes effect that their major, especially those that are smaller, would suffer as a result. Elizabeth Dunn, history professor and President of the BSU Faculty Association was quick to assure that the budget agreement didn’t consist of the removal of any department or faculty.


“Programs will still control their major in curriculum,” Dunn said. “There is no intent to further endanger small programs, but rather to help and protect them.”


As response kept circulating, there was also the question of whether this could have an overall negative effect upon students. “We’re trying to think of any decisions as long-term benefits to the university as a whole,” Dunn clarified.


Dean Rogers also addressed concerns by adding, “You all are affecting the future, and it really is very exciting.”

Towards the closing of the meeting, Nancy Michaels, a professor of English and committee member expressed her appreciation of the Student Senate and others that attended the meeting. “I’m glad the Senate has read and reviewed these models. I hope the students will engage in one model or the other. This is careful planning of how students would like to see what Bemidji State becomes,” Michaels said.


Students who would like to learn more about the reorganization of colleges and voice their opinions regarding this issue are encouraged to attend a meeting on Thursday, November 1 at 4:00 p.m. in the Crying Wolf Room.