What's in a name change?
The University Board of Trustees approved school designation for four departments during its meeting June 21.
Instead of "department," "school" now precedes communication and journalism, fisheries and allied aquacultures, industrial and graphic design and kinesiology at Auburn.
These four former departments met certain criteria in order to start the lengthy application process for school status.
These criteria contain the number of degrees and majors offered, the number of faculty members and a minimum requirement for total student hours.
But what does the new designation mean for the students and faculty that are a part of these former departments?
"There are several advantages to becoming a school, but I think the most important for us is visibility," said David Pascoe, assistant head of the school of kinesiology. "This designation of a school gives you more distinction. I'm not saying being a department is bad, but being a school recognizes our substantial size and allows us to be a player at the international and national levels."
Tim Boosinger, University provost and vice president of academic affairs, echoed Pascoe during his presentation of the proposal to the board of trustees.
Boosinger said it would be a benefit to students to have school on their resumes instead of department.
"When our students apply for programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy, medicine, fitness and conditioning, they will now be applying from a school," Pascoe said. "That designation gives you a greater distinction in your application. You could get a degree from one of those write-in programs, but this one at Auburn is a nationally ranked school."
Other faculty members said getting the school designation is recognition of the overall progress the former department has made in recent years.
"(Auburn's) industrial design undergraduate program is currently ranked sixth in the country, while its graduate program is ranked fourth," said Clark Lundell, head of the school of Industrial and Graphic Design. "This elevation of department to school status acknowledges this level of achievement and allows the school of industrial and graphic design to be competitive with other programs nationally."
Other benefits of school designation include advantages in recruiting students and faculty.
"A lot of students looking at prospective universities look for certain colleges and schools within those universities," said Jennifer Adams, journalism program director and incoming head of the school of communication and journalism. "This designation will help get us on the radar of students who are looking for a top-tier school for communication and journalism."
These new schools will also have new opportunities for financial support.
"People don't name departments, they name schools," Adams said. "Our development offers will now be able to hopefully attract a donor who would want to name our school. When you think of the top communication and journalism programs in the country, they're the big named schools like the Grady College at the University of Georgia or the Walter Cronkite School at Arizona State University."
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