Administrators of the new College of Human Sciences say things have “gone very smoothly,” — with the exception of some moving pains — since the College’s creation. The College of Education and the College of Family and Consumer Sciences merged to become the College of Human Sciences July 1.

“Things are great,” said interim dean Pamela White. “There is a cohesive community of people working together. So far, so good.”

White said the merger process has been a great deal of work and there are still a lot of things to do.

The new college has to create a new governance document, White said. The College of Human Sciences is also still trying to determine promotion and tenure guidelines for faculty.

Roger Smith, associate dean of the college, said other issues will be more settled after the new dean takes her position. Cheryl Achterberg is scheduled to take up the dean position Sept. 1.

“There will be different philosophies and new leadership goals with the new dean in office,” he said.

Smith said there have been some moving pains associated with the merger. Getting the computers onto university servers from local servers and vice versa have taken some work, he said.

Physical space has also been an issue. The remodeling of MacKay Hall and staff moving to new buildings has taken some adjustment, said Smith.

“There are new people in new places and we have to make sure the office is functional and prepared for the first day of school,” he said.

The community of faculty and staff must continue to work together to ensure the smooth transition, Smith said. He said staff members are now getting to know each other and the moving process has gone well. Smith added that there has not been much change in the academic philosophy of the colleges.

The changes with the merger have led to an “enhanced collaboration between faculty and staff,” White said.

The College of Education and the College of Family Consumer Sciences officially merged on July 1 after 18 months of planning. The move occurred to save the colleges money and enable the new college to hire more staff.

“The new college hopes to develop an atmosphere that’s positive and supportive to students,” Smith said.