Two new majors could be available for ISU students, if proposals passed by the Faculty Senate at its Tuesday meeting are adopted.

The department of economics presented a proposal to develop a major in business economics, which would replace the current business emphasis option in the economics major.

Business economics majors would receive their degree from the College of Business, although – for budget purposes – half of the funding would be in the College of Business and half in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Also under development is a new major in software engineering, to be available beginning fall 2007. Previous concerns with the proposal centered on whether students in the major would be housed in the College of Engineering or College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The concern, alongside budget implications, were addressed by a memo to senators from the deans of each college, as well as the chairs of the computer science and electrical and computer engineering departments.

“The Registrar is committed to developing a ‘joint college’ field that will be in place by next fall,” the memo states.

Most importantly for students, the senate approved the list of graduating seniors for the spring semester. A total of 3,437 students are scheduled to receive bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees.

The finale of the meeting was the passing of the gavel from Faculty Senate President Claudia Baldwin, associate professor of veterinary clinical sciences, to President-elect Gregory Palermo, professor of architecture. Palermo said he has three main goals for the next year.

“I hope to continue working on the campus climate, improving equitable relations for faculty and continue our commitment to shared governance by working on the new budget model,” Palermo said.