V. Components of the Multi-Year Plan
     B. Expenditures
          (1) Major Initiatives $7.0 M
               (a): Organization of Colleges and Schools for the                       Knowledge Base of a Modern Land Grant-AAU                       University - $ 1.0M

Universities are organized for knowledge creation and transmission through Schools and Colleges, and within them through disciplinary departments. Over time the forefront areas of discovery change, and are often found at the interfaces between the traditional disciplines. As a result it is common for transdisciplinary units to develop which cut across the traditional disciplines. Examples at this University are the interdepartmental programs in Neuroscience and Behavior, Evolutionary and Organismic Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, the Center for the Family and the Environmental Institute. The program in Molecular and Cellular Biology involves faculty from four colleges, with only 60% concentrated in one College, the College of Food and Natural Resources. Similarly only 50% of the faculty in Neuroscience and Behavior are in one College, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Periodically it is natural to consider a reorganization of the disciplines into a new structure, in which the nature of modern knowledge leads to a new grouping of departments, and to a consolidation of the interdepartmental and transcollegiate programs into one area. Two powerful examples are the proposed College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, which will draw on faculty from Food and Natural Resources, Natural Sciences and mathematics and Social and Behavioral Sciences; and opportunities for closer administrative alignment of Management and Applied Management. For example, if a College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology were formed, close to 80% of the faculty associated with the interdisciplinary programs in Biological Sciences will then coalesce into the new College. Over time a further evolution of the departments and interdisciplinary programs within this new College may take place into a new set of departments more in keeping with the coherent mission of this area of knowledge for teaching, research and outreach. This coalescence or metamorphosis may lead to a new set of interdisciplinary linkages to develop at a new level, e.g., with Life Sciences and Physics, Chemistry and Engineering.

A new structure will fit well into the concept of the modern Land Grant-AAU University, where teaching and learning, research, discovery, and creative endeavor, application and outreach will be more closely integrated. This evolution is not a simple reorganization. It represents a substantial evolution in the nature of knowledge. The work of the Life Sciences Committee describes the nature of this transformation. We reproduce the rationale here, since we believe that it serves as a useful model for other areas of knowledge which could undertake a similar metamorphosis.

College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology

The life sciences encompass the structures and mechanisms supporting life and its evolution, the role of ecological systems in the environment, and the value and management of natural resources. During the past decade, life sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have been evolving rapidly from a diverse group of separate disciplines to a closely interwoven and interdependent continuum (see Figure 5). These changes reflect the evolution of the life sciences globally, and are rapidly transforming the way scientists work together to generate new knowledge, to apply that knowledge, to transfer it to the outside world, and to provide students with the education and skills they need to succeed in the 21st Century.

We are privileged to be taking part in an unprecedented upswing in the impact of life sciences activities in many key areas of society. This trend will continue into the 21st Century, generating further advances in medicine, food, agriculture, animal husbandry and natural resource management, and bringing an increased awareness of the crucial importance of biodiversity and environmental stewardship as national and international priorities.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is uniquely positioned within the Commonwealth and the educational institutions of New England to play a far greater role in these exciting new developments:

A Life Sciences Steering Committee, composed of faculty from more than a dozen departments and four colleges has been meeting for two years to strengthen the linkages among disciplines committed to the Life Sciences. The committee has endorsed the concept of a reorganization into a new administrative unit in order to foster closer ties and more effective collaborative efforts in teaching, research, and outreach activities that are the hallmark of a Land Grant-Research institution. A great many other faculty members on campus also support the creation of a College of Life Sciences on campus.

Even with a redrawing of the boundaries, however, it will continue to be necessary to pay attention to cross-college linkages because life science work will continue to be pursued in other colleges such as Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences and Public Health and Health Sciences. The Life Sciences Steering Committee will continue to play an important role in fostering linkages across the life sciences.

The new College will allow for better coordination of faculty replacements to areas targeted for investment in the life sciences; better coordination of curriculum development and innovation; enhanced interactions with alumni, the Commonwealth and industry; a more rapid and effective response to new developments in the outside world; and optimal use of resources.

Planning for the new College will begin immediately. Among the many important matters to be considered will be the appropriate name for the college. We will continue to rely on the Life Sciences Steering Committee and ask the committee to work with the Provost to develop a preliminary plan for the new college for review by department and college faculties and Senate Committees and Councils during the next academic year. Following the initial review, we will again ask the Steering Committees help in the preparation of a plan for formal governance review on campus and subsequent submission to the Trustees. The planning year will be followed by a transition period with full implementation by the Fall of 1998.

Management/Applied Management

The School of Management is an important academic component of the modern Land Grant- AAU University because it concentrates on research, graduate and undergraduate teaching, and outreach to the business community and to new student clienteles. It has been a leader in the development and delivery of professional masters degree programs in off-campus locations, in economic development outreach, and in fostering closer relationships to the business community that benefit students and faculty alike. There are several strong departments in the College of Food and Natural Resources which specialize in applied management fields, including the departments of Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administration, Sports Studies, and Consumer Studies. Just as redrawing the boundaries in Life Sciences will lead to stronger synergy, so too, redrawing the boundaries to better encompass Management and Applied Management can strengthen our Land Grant-Research mission.

Deans OBrien and Helgesen have formed a committee to discuss issues of common concern across Management and Applied Management. The Provost has asked the committee to advise on the subject of administrative realignment. As Dean OBrien has noted: Just as agriculture was the focus of economic activity 100 years ago, management is at the center today. Educating those who would be managers, researching the management and organizational issues that will improve quality and productivity, and educating students to integrate other disciplines at the point where management becomes important to the practice and advancement of organizations or ideas should be our goal.

Dean Helgesen has asked the Committee to look at the transfer of HRTA, Sports Studies and Consumer Studies to the School of Management as a rare opportunity and to look at the philosophical, scholarly, and instructional advantages of such a reorganization. Sports Studies and HRTA and Consumer Studies collectively include over 40 faculty members and 1,200 undergraduate students.

We will ask the Committee of faculty members from the School of Management and the College of Food and Natural Resources, perhaps augmented with other members to form a Steering Committee, to work with the Provost on a preliminary plan for a new or merged Collegiate structure for Management and Applied Management. This plan too will be reviewed by Department and College faculties and Senate Committees and Councils. The comments will be used for preparation of a formal plan for governance review. Planning in this area will proceed simultaneously with planning for the College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology.

We challenge the University community to take up an intellectual discussion of the most far reaching kind on the nature and evolution of knowledge and on the integration of teaching, research and outreach. Perhaps discussions should begin on a greater integration of Physical Sciences, Computer Sciences and Engineering. Are there opportunities for the School of Public Health and Health Sciences to realign with Nursing and/or with Education? For Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences? This Strategic Action plan specifically designates funds to support the reorganization of knowledge in furtherance of our unique Land Grant-Research mission.

Table of Contents
Next | Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Reform