University officials are considering merging the colleges of Chemical and Life Sciences and Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences in a move they said is not budget-based, but would promote collaboration among disciplines.

Degrees and departments would remain the same, administrators said, minimizing the effect on students. The main impact would be on the faculty — spread out between the two colleges — who could combine related studies into potential new disciplines. Though staff positions are often consolidated when departments join together, CLFS Dean Norma Allewell said it is too early to predict the impact on staff.

Administrators said it was also too early to know when the plan might be implemented.

“There are numerous scientific connections, but there isn’t an overall administrative structure,” Allewell said. “We think that by merging these two colleges we would make it much easier for faculty to work together and new synergies could develop.”

Faculty and department chairs seemed receptive to the idea, administrators said, making the merger likely to be approved.

In an economic climate rife with state budget cuts, furloughs and lay-offs, the university is attempting to consolidate resources where they can, but Allewell stressed that cutting costs is not a driving factor in the decision.

While administrators touted the benefits of increased collaboration, some faculty were skeptical the reduced budget wasn’t playing a larger role.

“If the purpose of the merger is cost saving, there’s a fat cow that will be slaughtered,” said a CMPS administrator who asked not to be named.

There are near-identical staff positions in the two colleges that could become redundant and unnecessary if they combined, some said, leaving layoff speculation open.

Administrators said because the merger is still under discussion, they couldn’t say what the new college would look like.

“It is of course impossible to outline for you now what the administrative structure of a combined college would look like, but it is clear that neither our office nor that of Dean Allewell’s could handle the responsibility of a combined college,” CMPS Dean Steve Halperin wrote in an e-mail to CMPS administrators.

Halperin could not be reached for comment.

The issue was discussed among deans and Provost Nariman Farvardin last month, but Allewell said faculty have been discussing the merger for a “much longer time.” The colleges are currently gauging faculty reaction — Halperin requested the results for his college by Thanksgiving.

If it seems faculty agree, the provost will decide whether to move forward with the plan.

The new college would house more than 4,500 undergraduates, about 60 percent of whom would be CLFS majors. Farvardin said the size of the new college is not a concern, noting that it would be smaller than the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, as well the arts and humanities college.

“I don’t see size as a problem,” Farvardin said. “There are universities that have all arts and sciences all together. This college would not be that huge.”

Still, some faculty questioned the logic of the proposed plan.

Peter Wolfe, a math professor, said he didn’t see the point of the merger, as faculty between the two colleges already work together without issues. He added that one dean would be doing the job of two, and whichever dean took over might not understand the concerns of the other college.

“It’s hare-brained,” he said. “We have different cultures. I suppose it could work out in time, but to me it’s just pointless.”

Kishore Kamaraju, a postdoctoral research fellow in the biology department, said putting some faculty together might be beneficial if they develop new programs or disciplines, such as biophysics. But, he added, “for administrative reasons, it wouldn’t make sense.”

The proposed merger comes at a time when the education and the arts and humanities colleges are looking to consolidate similar departments.

“This is a time when we are already coping with a great deal of change in our lives,” Allewell said. “It may be that some of us are inclined to say, ‘Why can’t things stay just the way they were, they were working just fine for me?’ But there will be change.”

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