Committee hears no objections to zoology, botany merger

The administration's plans to merge the zoology and botany degree programs into an all-encompassing biology degree met no opposition at a committee meeting yesterday.

Bill Reinhardt, a chemistry professor on the committee, was not surprised by lack of objections to the merger.

"[The lack of attendance] is consistent with the documentation I've seen," he said. "We're not hearing people jumping up and down saying (the merger) is unfair or wrong. It looks like people want this."

The meeting, which was required under faculty senate guidelines, was intended to give the UW public input on the impending merger. This was the first meeting to be held since the senate passed a resolution in the mid-1990s requiring opportunities for public input when majors were to be changed or eliminated.

The combination of the degree programs is a result of the creation of the Department of Biology earlier this year. When the zoology and botany departments were merged into biology, it was assumed those degrees would be combined as well, members of the committee said.

Committee chair Jan Carline, a medical education professor, said the next step in the process is for the committee to submit a report to interim Provost David Thorud on the public's opinion.

"If we heard a lot of protests, or heard a lot of good reasons for not going through with this, then we would have a responsibility as a committee to write a report that reflected that," Carline said.

The Arts and Sciences College Council and faculty senate have already approved the merger. Approval from the provost is the last step before the new program is implemented.

According to Carline, the new degree program could be in place for students entering this fall.

Students in one of the programs to be eliminated will have the option of completing their current requirements or switching over to the new program. The new biology program will have six emphases, so students will still be able to choose in what area they specialize.

"It's not that things have disappeared; more things have appeared but all under one heading of 'biology,'" Reinhardt said.

The committee is still accepting comments from the UW community through Friday. Any such comments can be sent to senate@u.washington.edu.