Two NIU departments are fastening their seat belts for what might be a collision course as the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences considers merging a second set of programs.

The college is considering consolidation of the departments of geology and geography into one program, said LA&S Dean Jim Norris. The single department, which would be dubbed environmental sciences, would combine the various inner organs of the two programs.

“The major emphasis in the program will be geo-science,” Norris said. “We have people in each department (geology and geography) who study water, who study sand, who study long-term weather change, and we have people in geography who study air. That gives us the basic ingredients for an environmental sciences department.”

According to department officials, the proposal to merge still is in its early stages.

“Concerns related to the merger are being addressed in committees of both geology and geography,” said geography Chair John Harlin. “Until all these discussions are complete, it is difficult to give an opinion of my own. Programs don’t belong to the department chairs or executive committees, they belong to the faculty members and staff. That’s where the advice has to come from and the consent.”

Paul Loubere, associate geology professor, agreed with Harlin’s sentiment. “As for how things are right now,” he said, “we’re really in the developmental phase and it is hard to tell how things are going to be working out.”

There was agreement among officials that benefits could be reaped from the merger.

“The main plus as far as students are concerned,” Loubere said, “is that we can add a large amount of courses in environmental sciences under a broad umbrella reaching from the social sciences to the environmental. We can certainly work with it and we are going to be positive about it. Our main hope is to maintain the quality of our programs.”

Harlin addressed the issue of the doctoral program in geology, which has been targeted for elimination by the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s Priorities, Quality, and Productivity initiative.

“There is only good intent coming from the university and that is to retire a quality program,” he said.

“I will give us a good possibility of saving some funding,” Norris said. “It will also give us a chance to offer the students better programs.”

He also acknowledged the negative side of the merger. “I think there’s always a little drawback in that both units would lose a little of their identity,” he said.

“If we’re going to deal fairly with the IBHE’s recommendation,” Norris added, “I think here is a great opportunity to consolidate and modify a program and make it more productive for the students we serve.”