Updated at 1:07 a.m. CST Dec. 17

One year ago this week, a discussion began about combining the Colleges of Family and Consumer Science and the College of Education.

As of Thursday, after student and faculty protest, heated debates and a tie-breaking vote of approval from the Faculty Senate, Iowa State has been given approval to combine them.

The Board of Regents decided unanimously at its meeting in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union to approve the university’s proposal for combining the two colleges under the name College of Human Sciences.

The decision came after a meeting of the Board’s Education and Student Affairs Committee on Wednesday, when ISU President Gregory Geoffroy submitted a recommendation for the board to support the combination.

“The College of Human Sciences has a very bright future,” Geoffroy said in a statement. “It will combine the strengths of two colleges that have many closely connected programs. The result will be a richer education for out students, stronger research and more effective outreach to the people of Iowa.”

In February, Geoffroy appointed Ben Allen, provost and vice president for academic affairs, to combine the colleges with the goal of reducing administrative costs and creating stronger academic offerings. Open forums were held, and an extensive study was done by faculty from the two colleges.

The combination was a contested issue, with debate centering mainly on the new college’s proposed name. Faculty members from both colleges have said the name “Human Sciences” is confusing and under-represents the College of Education. Not wanting to sacrifice the colleges’ identities, some have proposed combining the names into one.

That drew criticism from other faculty members who argued that slapping the two names together doesn’t represent the idea of collaboration.

Before the official vote on the combination, the Faculty Senate unofficially voted 37 to 31 against the name change only. The combination itself won 60 to 8 in an unofficial vote.

In November, 79 percent of faculty members from the two colleges approved the proposed plan.

“These two colleges, the faculty particularly of these two colleges, had worked extremely hard over the last year to put this proposal together and they come together endorsing this proposal. I think there is a real spirit of moving forward and cooperation that has been formed as a result. And the faculty in these two colleges voted for this name as their preferred name,” Geoffroy said. “And in the end, I decided to support the faculty of these two colleges. There’s a lot of momentum, and I think you lose that momentum if you sent the name back for further review and analysis.”

He said he understands concerns raised about the new college’s name. But said he is confident problems can be addressed through effective communication.

“Human Sciences appropriately describes the mission of the new college, and it is a name that increasingly is accepted nationally,” he said.

The interim deans of the two colleges were on hand during the meeting, both giving their support for the combination and the new name.

“The choice of names is somewhat limited, and I believe that this is a very forward-looking name, that it captures what the six departments of what this college is about. In fact, three of those six departments have human in their title,” said Jerry Thomas, interim dean for the College of Education.

“There’s some people who question whether education is appropriately described; we believe that it is. In fact, the approach that one takes in education is the scientific study of children and adults … and so we do think that we do deserve and fit under that title.”

Pamela White, interim dean for the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, also gave support for the name.

“The name Human Sciences is visionary. It’s futuristic, it’s inclusive, it’s fresh, it’s short, and it’s memorable. And those are all issues the committee that looked at that wanted to have,” White said.

The plan calls for the elimination of five staff positions between the two colleges, as well as the reduction of one dean and two associate dean positions. One dean and three associate deans will lead the college.

The plan also calls for the colleges’ student services functions to be combined under a team of six full-time professionals and scientific staff, resulting in the elimination of 2.5 current positions. Through the reduction of current positions and administrative costs, the combination will generate nearly $500,000 in annual savings.

Savings are will be used for supporting academic work, which includes hiring new faculty and funding the remodeling of the east wing of MacKay Hall — which would be the location of the new college’s student services office.

No academic programs or majors are scheduled to be eliminated.

Allen said he will appoint a committee of faculty and staff from the colleges to oversee the combination’s implementation.

The search for a dean for the new college will begin spring semester, with the combination expected to take place July 1.