THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, January 14, 1995             TAG: 9501140186
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   36 lines

JMU TO DROP MAJOR, MERGE TWO COLLEGES TO REDUCE SPENDING

James Madison University announced Friday that it would drop its physics major, merge two colleges and cut a dean's position to reduce costs.

``This is the next level of restructuring,'' university spokesman Fred Hilton said. ``There are some painful parts to it, but it's creating a better JMU.''

Hilton said he didn't know how much money the actions would save the university.

The physics major is being dropped because of low student demand.

``When you have only five graduates a year and you have 10 faculty members, then clearly some adjustments have to be made,'' he said.

The university will continue to offer physics courses, and current majors will be allowed to complete their degrees. Some of the 10 professors will continue teaching physics and others will be moved to other sciences, but ``it would be unlikely that all 10 would stay,'' Hilton said.

The university will combine the College of Letters and Sciences and the College of Communication and the Arts. This, Hilton said, will cut down on administrative costs and encourage interdisciplinary work.

The communication dean, Richard F. Whitman, will serve as the dean of the new college. The dean of letters and sciences, Jack M. Armistead, will return to teaching English.

The science departments eventually will be moved into the College of Integrated Science and Technology, which emphasizes a team approach to learning and high-technology. by CNB