By now it is common knowledge that the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences here at the University of Tampa is undergoing a time of major change and self-assessment. Soon, we will have to adapt to the prospect of a highly renovated CLAS, which may be split into as many as five separate colleges.
At times like this, it is easy for human considerations to come to the fore and for cabals to emerge in support of the options that give them the most power and authority. Political considerations, such as how many faculty members are represented in each discipline, inevitably compete with practical matters. However, there is no doubt that from the Office of the Provost to the average student in the caf, UT’s population overwhelmingly desires whatever will be most beneficial to the institution as a whole.
As a student-run organization and important hub of information on campus, The Minaret is in a unique position to weigh in on issues of this kind for the benefit of the university community. After careful consideration, the editorial board of The Minaret would like to declare our support for the four college model which has been made available to faculty members under the title “Model III.”
This model splits CLAS into three interrelated colleges, namely, The College of Arts ‘ Letters, The College of Social Sciences, Math ‘ Education, and The College of Science and Health. The College of Business remains as it currently is in this model, and in the others we reviewed.
This model benefits from a very even distribution of disciplines across the board, as well as having a comparable number of full-time faculty members in each college. The most closely related disciplines have been placed together, with few additions that seem extraneous. While it might seem to opponents that the four college model divides the liberal arts disciplines too finely, we believe that the positive aspects of this model greatly outweigh the potential costs. According to early reports on the faculty voting process, 80 percent of the liberal arts faculty concur.
Provost McNew expects the decision making process to be completed by January and for the liberal arts to begin operating under the new model as of the upcoming fall semester. We are on the brink of a historic change here at the University of Tampa, and it is in everyone’s best interest for the decision to be undertaken after serious and sober consideration. We wish the College of Liberal Arts faculty luck in helping to chart the future of our university and the students within it.