THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 17, 1995 TAG: 9509170042
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
James Madison University administrators, who irritated faculty last semester by deciding to close the physics department, say they may retain the department, with a different academic focus.
The decision would reverse the most dramatic academic restructuring effort at any university in the state.
President Ronald E. Carrier announced in January that JMU would drop its physics major and close its physics department, which has 10 faculty members and about five graduates per year.
He and other administrators said the university could better use its money in other academic areas. They said the professors would be shifted to other science departments or terminated.
In January, the faculty approved a vote of no confidence in Carrier, and a group of professors sued JMU, saying the administrators violated their contracts by not informing professors of the decision beforehand. Critics also said James Madison would not have a well-rounded curriculum if it dropped the physics major.
Under a new plan drafted by the physics faculty, the department would offer three tracks for majors.
One, like the current major, would train students for graduate study in physics. Another would be a five-year plan, in conjunction with another university, leading to a master's in engineering. The third would prepare students for immediate employment, in jobs such as teaching and lab work.
Norman Garrison, interim dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, said the plan would boost enrollment and would keep all faculty. They would also be encouraged to collaborate with professors in other scientific fields to devise new ways of teaching physics.
``With the plan that we have developed,'' Garrison said, ``we would have a very good physics program that would be the envy of a lot of universities.''
The plan still needs the approval of a university committee and Carrier, but, in a statement, the president appeared to voice his support: ``I concur with the consultants' report that James Madison University needs a major in physics, but a different major than the one we had. The result of this process will be a stronger major.''
Administrators said the decision would not be influenced by the lawsuit or the no-confidence vote.
JMU spokesman Fred Hilton said Carrier all along had wanted to revise the physics department before dropping it. But until he tried to close it, professors refused to consider changes. ``We had tried to get the program changed, but there was no success,'' Hilton said.
Margaret A. Miller, associate director of the State Council of Higher Education, said she isn't disappointed. The changes, she said, could encourage more students to study physics. ``Restructuring isn't about cutting; it's about reorganizing your institution to do the kind of teaching to prepare students to be in the 21st century,'' she said.
Russ Smith, an associate professor of economics who leads the faculty group that filed the suit, said the proposal didn't alleviate his concerns about the administration's decision-making process. by CNB