The consolidation implementation committee (CIC) for the new Georgia Southern institution will vote on a proposed recommendation by an operational working group that will result in the division of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences into two different colleges, the College of Arts and Humanities and the College of Behavioral Sciences.

The committee is expected to vote on the recommendation at their meeting on Wednesday, however, some faculty members at both campuses are opposing the recommendation, according to Savannah Morning News.

According to Savannah Morning News, over 100 faculty members of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences have signed a petition to oppose the recommendation of splitting the college into two.

If approved, the consolidated institution will have nine total colleges: Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing, College of Arts and Humanities (new), College of Behavioral Sciences (new), College of Business, College of Education, Don and Cindy Waters College of Health Professions, Jiann-Pin Hsu College of Public Health, College of Science and Mathematics and the J.N Averitt College of Graduate Studies.

According to the official agenda for the consolidation committee, the proposal would move several departments around, but cites that “dividing the liberal arts and social sciences into two new colleges would be more manageable across the three campuses.”

The recommendation was reviewed and supported by Jean Bartels, provost and vice president of academic affairs for Georgia Southern, and Robert Smith, provost and vice president of academic affairs for Armstrong State.

Other items

In the committee meeting on Wednesday, faculty welfare, faculty processes/resources, first-year programs, research, communication and marketing issues, along with other topics are expected to be discussed, according to the agenda.

The committee will discuss over 30 recommendations about the different topics and how to proceed. As of Tuesday, only eight recommendations by the CIC have been approved.

This meeting comes days after seven appointments were made to the senior organizational structure on Friday.

Following the meeting on Wednesday, the committee will meet again on May 24, 2017 at Armstrong State University. For a full schedule of the meetings, click here.

For the full agenda for the May 10 meeting, click here.

The meeting will take place at the Military Science building from 2 to 4 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.

Correction: The recommendation was made by an operational working group as part of the consolidation process, not by the CIC.