The possible merger of the sociology and anthropologydepartments, along with the elimination of a concentration inRussian, are among the changes that will result from TheUniversity's budget woes.
Eliminating a master's in industrial engineering and changes inthe finance degree program are also planned.
Earlier it was announced majors in the consumer scienceeducation department will be moved into either the UniversityCollege or the human movement sciences department. The future ofthe dance department it also uncertain.
With a possible tuition increase hovering over Tennesseecolleges and universities, a committee will be formed to review TheU of M anthropology department and submit a proposal that willdetermine if anthropology will be combined with sociology in thenear future.
The need for the department change is just one example of thebudget woes The U of M and other state schools are suffering.
"The committee's going to be discussing the pro's and con's ofthe merger over the course of the summer," said Linda Bennett,associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences.
So far, no decision has been made, but the option will beclosely discussed in the fall, as the committee looks at a numberof factors.
"The committee is getting together to study the merit and thedrawbacks of the proposal," said Jennifer Wagner-Lawlor, associatedean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the chairman of thecommittee. "The report that we come up with, in probably September,will go to the dean of arts and sciences, and he will take thatinto account."
Some of the factors the committee will be looking at are thenumber of students enrolled in the department, the number ofdegrees awarded, the number of scholarships given and the faculty,according to Wagner-Lawlor.
"We are going to be looking at what the strengths and weaknessesof the department have been," Wagner-Lawlor said. "And also lookingat the composition of the faculty in each department and thinkingabout what would happen if the two departments were merged."
The committee will be looking at the kind of work the professorsare doing and whether the merger would encourage the work they weredoing and what work would not fit into the department in case of amerger.
"Another thing we will want to do is to get the faculty's input,and say, 'What would your objections be to this proposal?'"Wagner-Lawler said. "We want to think about in what ways the mergerwould have merit and in what ways it would have drawbacks."
The committee will have their first meeting next week.
Another meeting later this month could bring higher tuition forstudents at Tennessee's public colleges and universities.
Last week the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC)recommended that State Board of Regents schools like The U of Mincrease tuition by 14 percent.
It is up to the Board of Trustees to approve the increase afterthey meet.
With a $107 million overall cut in state taxpayer appropriationsfor higher education, the THEC show a need for the tuitionhike.
Colleges and universities will lose $75.5 million for academicfunctions in the 2003-04 budget adopted by the state legislaturelast month.
The tuition increase would replace just over $60 millionlost.
