On Friday, Chancellor Carlo Montemagno released the second draft of his plan to reorganize all academic programs from a departmental system to a school structure. 

Among the things that remain unchanged in the new draft is the elimination of all 42 academic departments on campus, despite a vote from the Faculty Senate on Nov. 14 to oppose this plan.

Montemagno said the need for this type of reorganization stems from the 50 percent decline in freshman enrollment over the last three years and a loss of $9.4 million in tuition this year alone.

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A full listing of changes from the first draft is below, divided by the colleges the chancellor has proposed:

College of Social Sciences, Humanities, Media and Arts

Montemagno said he has changed the name of the College of Liberal and Performing Arts to the College of Social Sciences, Humanities, Media and Arts.

He said the new name is an attempt to “capture the broader scope of the programs” the college will offer.

The proposed School of Homeland Security has also been moved to this college.

Among the reasons Montemagno cited for the move his belief that criminology and criminal justice are rooted in social sciences, as well as giving its students and faculty the chance to collaborate with other programs in the college.

Montemagno mentioned multicultural programs as a potential collaborator.

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Political science and paralegal studies have also been moved to the School of Homeland Security “because of their impact on policy and law.”

Additionally, Montemagno moved the information system technologies to homeland security because of the cybersecurity program. He said it is in the hopes that the program would be a national leader in the field.

The School of Social Sciences has been changed to the School of Social Sciences and Multicultural Studies, which will contain the Africana studies program.

“I have deferred any decision on the Africana studies major for a year to provide the time to develop a plan where we can apply the needed learnings provided by Africana studies to support the development of the cultural competency of all SIU students, as well as students who are interested in obtaining a degree in speciality,” Montemagno said in a recorded speech on Nov. 16. 

The school will also include communication studies, linguistics and other multidisciplinary programs such as women, gender and sexuality studies, Native American studies and Latino and Latin American studies.

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

The School of Integrated and Biological Sciences will now be called the School of Biological Sciences, largely because of a shift toward uniting it with Springfield medical school faculty.

Montemagno said he originally planned to have those faculty teach four SIUC programs, but after talking with professors and Dean Jerry Kruse, those faculty will remain in the School of Medicine.

However, he said they will still participate in SIUC programs.

Those programs were physiology, anatomy programs, neuroscience and biochemistry and molecular biology. Montemagno dropped anatomy as an SIUC program, though it remains a program at the School of Medicine.

Montemagno is also proposing a new program in bioinformatics, which uses software to understand data taken from biological research. 

Zoology was also moved to the School of Biological Sciences from the School of Sustainability and Earth Science. Montemagno said this is to ensure the program retains an evolutionary focus.

Because of a “gap” left by the zoology program, Montemagno said he is proposing programs in ecology and fisheries and wildlife management in the School of Sustainability and Earth Science.

Montemagno said he hopes zoology professors collaborate within the two new programs.

In the School of Agricultural Sciences, the agribusiness economics program will be cross-listed with the School of Accountancy and Finance in the College of Business and Analytics.

College of Business and Analytics

The recreation professions program was moved from this college to the College of Health and Human Services in the School of Health Services.

While he retained sports administration and health care management in the College of Business and Health Analytics, Montemagno said he hopes the two programs “maintain significant engagement” with the College of Health and Human Services.

College of Engineering, Physical Sciences and Applied Technology

Montemagno proposed a new program in industrial design in the School of Engineering.

Currently, industrial design is a specialization in the School of Art and Design.

The School of Physical Sciences is now called the School of Computer and Physical Sciences.

“After significant discussion, we have called out the important role of computing by renaming the original School of Physical Sciences,” Montemagno said.

The School of Transportation and Technology was also renamed the School of Transportation and Applied Technology.

Montemagno addressed concerns regarding maintaining the university’s aviation programs under the school system by saying it will be staffed with “significant input” from aviation faculty.

College of Health and Human Services

The School of Clinical Services was renamed the School of Health Services.

Staff writer Cory Ray can be reached at cray@dailyegyptian.com or on Twitter @coryray_de.

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