Two committees formed to aid in transition to Arts, Sciences college

By SUE WUETCHER
News Services Associate Editor

The process of creating a College of Arts and Sciences has begun, with Provost Thomas E. Headrick appointing two committees to assist in the transition.

The task of the Founder's Committee, chaired by David Triggle, vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate School, will be to "design the structure and pattern of operation for an arts and sciences college in the 21st century."

The Search Committee, chaired by Louis Goldberg, dean of the School of Dental Medicine, will conduct a national search for the dean of the college.

In his charge to the Founder's Committee, Headrick said the role of the panel is fourfold:

- To appraise UB's current capacity to create and maintain excellent undergraduate and graduate programs, support high-quality research and scholarship in the arts and sciences, and explore ways that graduate teaching and research might enhance undergraduate learning

- To examine and suggest solutions to problems and issues identified by the Hearing Panel on the Reorganization of the Arts and Sciences, including processes for accommodating the diverse academic cultures that exist among the disciplines in the arts and sciences, and to conduct a realistic appraisal of resources available and needed to advance and strengthen the arts and sciences at UB

- To study and propose ways in which the arts and sciences can work with the professional schools to enhance the quality of educational programs and research

- To take up other related issues to ensure a successful transition from the current structure of three faculties to that of the college

The committee will serve for two years. During the first year, it will study and report on the issues; during the second year, it will work with the new dean to implement the new structure.

The members of the Founder's Committee are: Thomas Keir-stead, associate professor of history; Stephen Halpern, professor of political science; John (Sid) Shrauger, professor of psychology; Barbara Tedlock, professor of anthropology; Jan Mutchler, associate professor of sociology; Diane Christian, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of English; Nathan Grant, assistant professor of African-American studies; Robert Hoeing, associate professor of modern languages and literatures; Roy Roussel, professor of English and media study; Carol Zemel, professor and chair of the Department of Art History.

Also, Stephen Henderson, associate professor of theatre and dance; Frank Bright, professor of chemistry; Stephen Free, professor of biological sciences; Deborah Walters, associate professor of computer science; William Menasco, professor of mathematics; Michael Naughton, associate professor of physics; Charles Mitchell, associate professor of geology; Michael Frisch, professor of history and American studies; John Peradotto, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Classics, and Judith Duchan, professor and chair of the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences.

The Search Committee will consider both internal and external candidates for the dean's position.

Headrick has asked the committee to identify an appointee no later than March 15 who would assume the post by Summer 1998.

The members of the Search Committee are: Carolyn Korsmeyer, professor of philosophy; Peter Rogerson, professor of geography; Jack Meacham, professor of psychology; Bruce Jackson, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of English; Martha Malamud, associate professor of classics; Adele Hender-son, associate professor of art.

Also, Robert Jacobi, professor of geology; Bruce McCombe, professor of physics; Joseph Gardella, professor of chemistry; Peter Gold, associate dean of the Undergraduate College, and Sarah Anderson, representing UB's Alumni Association.

Headrick said that the Council of Arts and Sciences Deans also will work on the reorganization by studying the potential effects of the transition upon the administration of the three faculties and the problems associated with the integration of the now-separate finance and resource-management systems into a single system. The council, which will involve professional staff members in this review and analysis, will meet with the Founder's Committee to discuss these matters, he said.

The council also will assemble a small group of faculty members to prepare a report comparing the appointment, tenure and promotion processes in the three faculties, identifying problems connected with the integration of these processes and suggesting appropriate solutions to these problems, Headrick said.