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Regents rename 2 schools to clarify roles, purposes

Two University schools have shed their former titles in an effort to move into the future.

From now on, the School of Information and Library Studies will be known as the School of Information. The School of Art will be called the School of Art and Design.

The changes were approved at Friday's meeting of the University Board of Regents.

Daniel Atkins, dean of the School of Information, said the name change signifies the effort his school is making to become more computer-oriented. Atkins said the school will continue to offer programs that train students for library skills, while adding more technology-based programs.

The School of Information's new offerings include human-computer interactions, digital publishing, organization and information systems, and archives and records management.

"The new programs will create graduates that will be hired by all sorts of companies," Atkins said. "We will be graduating students who understand both technological and organizational aspects."

Allen Samuels, dean of the School of Art and Design, said it is important to draw a distinction between students working in fine arts and those preparing for a corporate setting.

"Corporations don't want to work with artists as much as they want to work with designers," Samuels said. He said the change of names is intended to draw "a respectful distinction" between the school's disciplines.

School of Art and Design junior and Michigan Student Assembly Rep. Ryan LaLonde said he supports the name changes. He said the only possible drawback from the new name could be that "people might forget that design is still art."

Provost J. Bernard Machen said the changes have been analyzed throughout the University.

"This action has been thoroughly discussed throughout the academic community," Machen said.

Samuels said only one faculty member resisted the renaming on philosophical grounds. Atkins said some faculty members at the School of Information were concerned about the renaming, but that it was a unanimous decision once it was understood that library studies will still be represented.

President James Duderstadt said the School of Information's new name fits its changing curriculum.

"This action is the result of a recognition that unprecedented change in the use of information is reshaping personal activities, community and organizational practices, and national and global institutions," Duderstadt said.

The national magazine U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the School of Information second in the nation. It has 300 post-graduate students.