New name: College of Arts and Sciences

PULLMAN, Wash. – As steps to integrate the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Sciences continue, the committee helping oversee the merger has recommended that the new college be named the College of Arts and Sciences.
 
The name for the new college was announced in a memo from Washington State University President Elson S. Floyd and Provost and Executive Vice President Warwick M. Bayly on Thursday.
 
Larry Hufford, professor and director in the School of Biological Sciences, and Bill Andrefsky, Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professor of Archaeology, are co-chairs of the CLA-CoS Integration Planning Team. It has overseen the naming process and has organized three forums to discuss different aspects of the integration of the two colleges.
 
“We are striving to be transparent and to involve as many people as possible at every stage of this process,” Hufford said.
 
He said faculty and staff were asked to make nominations of possible names for the college. WSU Marketing and Creative Services also was asked to look at the marketing aspects of different names.
 
The two names that received the most nominations were College of Arts and Sciences and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, with the first name receiving the most support in a faculty and staff vote.
 
The recommendation and marketing materials were shared with the president and provost, who supported the final decision. The new name is effective July 1, 2012.