Virginia Berg

As of July 1 the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, the College of Education and Counseling and the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation merged to become the new College of Education and Human Sciences.

“We made the change to bring together different programs and faculty that have similar goals,” said David Hilderbrand, Interim Dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences.

Previously the Physical Education major was in the HPER department, which was in the College of Arts and Sciences. The Early Childhood Education major was in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, and Teacher Education was in the College of Education and Counseling. Likewise the Nutrition major was in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, but the Health Promotion major was in the HPER department in the College of Arts and Sciences.

“The academic programs affected have not been changed,” said Hilderbrand. “We are just bringing related disciplines together for greater collaboration.”

The new college was then proposed in 2009 and made effective as of July 1, said Hilderbrand.

The result is the College of Education and Human Sciences which consists of around 150 employees 2,300 undergraduate students and between 400-500 graduate students, said Hilderbrand.

Ayla Waldschmidt, senior music education major, said the merger is a “valid crossover between the former colleges.”

Jerry Jorgensen, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, calls the Health, Physical Education and Recreation program’s move from the College of Arts and Sciences to the new College of Education and Human Sciences very fitting.

“HPER aligns better with the mission of the new college,” Jorgensen said. “The department will flourish in the new setting and continue to grow stronger.”

With the new college comes a new mission statement: “To develop the human potential by advancing teaching, learning and scholarship for the purpose of enhancing individual, family, school and community well-being.”

Hilderbrand said that there has not been much reaction from the students yet, but activities are planned for students in the new college to get to know each other.

College of Education and Human Sciences

The new college now contains seven departments, including Aviation; Counseling and Human Resource Development; Health, Physical Education and Recreation; Design, Merchandising and Consumer Science; Educational Leadership; Human Development; Nutrition, Food Science and Hospitality and Teacher Education.