Task force votes to delay college split

A task force created by A&M-Commerce Provost Dr. Larry Lemanski to formulate a recommendation regarding the reorganization of the university's colleges has voted not to accept the reorganization plan on the grounds of a lack of information.

The College Reorganization Task Force turned in their recommendation to Lemanski on Sept. 24, voting 11-to-2 that the Provost's office needs to provide more information and direction in order for them to create a reorganization plan.

"The College Reorganization Task Force strongly recommends that you consider the results of the survey then reconstitute a new Task Force to include individuals with the knowledge and skill set to craft a clear argument for change and a clear method to produce that change," the recommendation read.

The task force, which is co-chaired by current Faculty President Dr. LaVelle Hendricks and Literature and Languages Head Dr. Mary Dunbar-Odom, was charged by Lemanksi with consulting groups representing all constituencies, gathering information via public forum and internet survey, synthesizing information and offering recommendations to the Provost by Dec. 8, 2010.

"Based upon input obtained from the university survey and for a, it is clear to the Task Force members that more data and direction should come from your office before reorganization can be implemented on this campus," the recommendation read.

The task force hosted public forums on Sept. 6 and Sept. 23 and sent out a university-wide survey during the week of Sept. 13.

The co-chairs produced a draft of the proposed realignment, which was given to the task force on Sept. 3. A revised draft was later sent on Sept. 8. The draft proposed a splitting of the College of Arts and Sciences into two colleges: The College of Liberal Arts, Fine Arts and Social Sciences and the College of Science and Engineering.

"Nursing would be housed in the College of Education until it becomes a separate college," the draft read.

The draft listed the increased importance of scholarship and its evaluation across the disciplines, the administrative "thorniness" of administering a college as diverse as Arts and Sciences, and the development of a nursing program, as reasons for the proposed reorganization.

While it was initially proposed that smaller departments be combined or eliminated, the idea was removed from the table.

"I want to point out that the Task Force has been charged to look at the overall structure of the colleges, and that the merging and/or splitting of departments is not being addressed at this time," Lemanski said.

The task force submitted the first draft to the faculty senate on Sept. 7.

The concept of reorganizing the colleges was first broached by Lemanski in a memorandum to A&M-Commerce President Dr. Dan Jones last semester.

"The structure of the academic division outlined in the memorandum to Dr. Jones on May 20, 2010, was meant to start the discussion for the need to address the current organization of the entire division," Lemanski said in a statement at the beginning of the 2010 fall semester. "The "reorganization" accompanying this memo was a "straw man" proposal, meant to be the starting point for discussions – it was never meant to be the final word on reorganization, or even a first draft."

Calls to Lemanski's office were not returned by press time.