Academic Council considers integration of NSOE depts.

The four-year-old merger between the Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences and the Nicholas School of the Environment flared up at Thursday's Academic Council meeting, as faculty and administrators discussed a plan to better integrate the two groups.

The plan, approved Oct. 6 by NSOE faculty, includes several proposals, notably renaming the school the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, structuring its studies into three divisions instead of two, and changing how faculty tenure and appointments are handled. The Academic Council will vote on the proposal at its Nov. 30 meeting.

"These are not simply archaic changes. Rather, they arise from a desire to increase collaboration within the school," NSOE Dean Norman Christensen said. Defending the still-controversial merger, he added that the plan embraces EOS faculty and enhances the interdisciplinary atmosphere of the school.

That view was met with discontentment by Stuart Rojstaczer, associate professor of EOS, who decried both the continued integration of the two groups and the actions of certain administrators. Calling the 1996 merger "a top-down idea, your typical shotgun marriage," he quoted a recent external review of the school that recommended either an improved union or a divorce between EOS and Nicholas. "The arrangement is still an awkward combination of a department and an interdisciplinary school," Rojstaczer read.

Although he called the three divisions within the NSOE a "Balkanization" of the school, he supports the plan simply to bring an end to the discussion. Rojstaczer specifically criticized Provost Peter Lange for "wearing down" the faculty by persisting with the merger.

But Emily Klein, associate professor of EOS, sympathized with the position of administrators, and suggested that the merger, although not ideal, has had some benefits. She said that EOS was not a priority when it was a department in Arts and Sciences, and that it has thrived since moving. "Geology within Duke University is healthier and can be successful in Nicholas in a time of limited resources," she said.

IN OTHER BUSINESS: Jim Clack, interim vice president for student affairs, discussed with the faculty some of the challenges he has faced since taking the position in July. He said that alcohol has absorbed most of his time as he tries to educate students and provide social alternatives. "You've got to educate these students. They've got to know," he said, citing a pamphlet distributed this year on the dangers of alcohol. While he admitted the failure of non-alcoholic programming at the beginning of the semester, Clack said that redistributing its funding has had positive results.

After Clack's talk, Rojstaczer praised him for working on the alcohol issue. But Robert Conrad, associate professor of public policy, suggested that the administration might be going too far. "Too much of what you said today is treating [students] like children," he said.