After July 1, ETSU’s College of Applied Science and Technology, or CAST, will be no more.
With budget cuts in mind, ETSU recently made a decision to dissolve the college and place its various departments in other colleges on campus.
The department of computer and information systems, technology, military science and applied human sciences will be moving to the College of Business, while geology will move to the College of Arts and Science, where it will be housed with the department of physics and astronomy.
The merger was proposed to eliminate some administrative costs for the university, and CAST was selected because several of the departments were already working in cooperation with the College of Business, said Dr. Bert Bach, vice president of academic affairs.
“There were some natural synergies there that we felt we could build on,” he said. For example, many undergraduate business majors take computer science courses, and undergraduates majoring in economics take technology and geography classes.
The administrative merger has allowed the university to eliminate several vacant positions and the operating costs associated with the dean’s office for CAST. “All in all, the budget reductions resulting from (the merger) are slightly in excess of $300,000,” Bach said.
For now, the departments in question will remain in their current buildings and offices.
“If, in the future, it appears that some relocation would be appropriate and beneficial, we could look at that, but moving anyone is not a part of the proposal,” he said.
Though the actual merger will not take place until July 1, activities associated with it are already taking place and departments are beginning to prepare for the change.
However, CAST students should not feel any ill effects from the administrative merger. “It should be seamless,” Bach said.
In fact, he feels the student stand to benefit from the merger. “I think there are real opportunities for very positive synergies to result from this over time.

Author