DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat UA Provost George Davis, seen announcing program cuts at a press conference last week, will announce proposals today outlining the specifics for planned mergers.

Likins and Davis propose extensive changes in form of mergers, reorganization

Administrators released yesterday seven preliminary proposals to merge university programs and 19 proposals to structurally alter a variety of university areas.

The plans include two proposals for merging entire academic departments, and also call for the renaming of two colleges and the elimination of several administrative positions, including the dean of the Graduate College.

The proposals call for the elimination of one undergraduate degree, in geological engineering, but spare other academic degree programs in potentially merged departments.

Yesterday's announcement marked the second time this month that President Pete Likins and Provost George Davis released plans detailing their initial proposals for restructuring the UA under Focused Excellence, Likins' sweeping plan to turn the university into a more financially independent, top-flight research institution.

Likins reiterated the fact the idea that some job cuts will likely result from the mergers that survive a long review process.

"There will be jobs lost, inevitably, but which ones, we're totally unable to say," he said.

Tenured faculty members' jobs will be protected, though some department heads warn that retaining faculty in a merged department could prove challenging. Other faculty members and staff in affected departments will have their jobs reviewed by administrators on a case-by-case basis, Likins and Davis said in the document outlining their proposals.

Since unveiling Focused Excellence early last semester, Likins and Davis have said the changes they propose will impact the lives of many employees. But they call the changes necessary if the university is to survive in a financial climate where the percentage of the university budget coming from the state has shrunk nearly 25 percent in the last 15 years.

"If we do nothing and simply try to keep every (program) alive, we will drain the reservoir from everything and ultimately damage the core strength of the university," Likins said.

The proposals call for the merger of the aerospace engineering doctoral program with a similar program at ASU. The Arizona Board of Regents recently labeled that program as demonstrating "low productivity" because it has only awarded three doctorates in eight years. However, Likins and Davis said keeping it open is important because the aerospace industry plays a prominent role in Tucson's economy.

Merging the program with ASU's could mean that students could have doctoral advisers from the other university, but Likins expects little opposition to the proposal.

"I think this is a creative response to the problem and I think the solution will be uniformly embraced," Likins said.

Other proposals, including the plan to merge the German studies department with the Russian and Slavic studies department, are likely to meet with much more opposition.

Thomas Kovach, the German studies department head, has already written a letter to Likins questioning the decision, and says his entire faculty is concerned that a merger could seriously damage the department.

The other merger proposal involving two entire departments, the plant pathology department and the plant sciences department, will not impact students, said Eugene Sander, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

With only about 10 faculty and no undergraduate program, plant pathology is a small, but important department, Sander said. Understanding plant diseases is critical for agriculture, especially because some bioterrorist plots could include plant diseases. Wiping out wheat, he said, could cause catastrophic problems.

"You can get along without a car, but you've got to eat," Sander said.

Plant sciences has been "one of the gems of the entire university," Likins said, and he hopes that a merger would further strengthen the department.

The 19 reconstruction proposals call for renaming the College of Engineering and Mines as the College of Engineering, and renaming the Eller College of Business and Public Administration as the Eller College of Management.

Likins and Davis explained those changes as reflective of the colleges' current structure. The department of Mining and Geological Engineering ÷ the engineering college's only department with a mining focus ÷ houses only 5 percent of the faculty in the college. In the Eller College, public administration and faculty make up 10 percent of the total faculty population.

Likins defended the proposal to change the business college's name despite the college's prominence and highly ranked programs.

"There's an old phrase ÷ÎIf it ain't broke don't fix it' ÷ and it's been one of the most destructive phrases in management," he said, saying universities must constantly reevaluate their priorities.

Other reconstruction proposals include merging the positions of Graduate College dean and director of Interdisciplinary Programs, an already existing administrative position, and renaming the University College the University School.

Now, administrators will prepare more extensive proposals analyzing the impact of the potential changes. If Likins and Davis still support the mergers and reconstructions, the proposals will undergo a review process that includes input from all affected faculty, as well as key committees made up of administrators, faculty, staff and students.

"I have to say that if we actually accomplish (these) changes · that will be more dramatic than any I've seen at a Research I university in 40 years," Likins said.

Over the next two weeks, community members will have two chances to speak out on the proposals, at Town Halls on Jan. 28 and Feb. 4.

Tacie Holyoak contributed to this report.