U goes ahead with planned college mergers
By Yelena Kibasova
as the University realignment train moves forward, the plan for academic
alignment reached a destination Saturday.
With six colleges merging into three, July marks a time for new
administative titles, transferring faculty members and high hopes.
Sharon Reich Paulsen, assistant vice president and chief of staff to the
provost, said the hope is to create synergy among the merging colleges.
.....
College of Design
The College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and the
department of design, housing, and apparel made their transition into
the College of Design.
Thomas Fisher, dean of the new college, is settling into his position
this week. He said he is trying to get used to having a lot of staff
members.
"(The College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture) used to be a
relatively small college and we had a relatively small staff," he said.
"Design is going to be double the size, so for the first time … I'm
going to have (a large) staff."
Reich Paulsen said the college brings together students who are
interested in some aspect of design.
"It has them bumping into each other and it has them exchanging ideas
and that's all for the good," she said. "It does the same thing with the
faculty."
Although the old college and department are integrated, the department
of design, housing, and apparel is still on the St. Paul campus while
the architecture school is on the Minneapolis campus.
Fisher said merging the colleges on one campus will take years.
"In the meantime, we're going to do all we can to connect people so that
students have an opportunity to interact," he said.
Fisher said he will provide connection opportunities for students and
faculty members such as interdisciplinary courses, social events and a
college launch event.
cont'd....
http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/07/05/68551