The long process of editing the 2005-07 ISU curriculum catalog is underway.

The yearlong process, which occurs on a two-year rotational cycle, began in February and is still in its early stages, said Char Hulsebus, program coordinator of records and registration.

“It’s cyclical, like housework,” Hulsebus said.

She said the editing process is now only in its first step, at the departmental level, where faculty begin to examine which changes need to be made.

There are only a few major changes, she said. The most significant is the addition of two new degree programs, a master’s of science and bachelor’s of science in diet and exercise and a master’s of science in enterprise computing.

There are also proposals for the elimination of two other programs, botany and zoology and genetics.

John Schroeter, Faculty Senate curriculum committee chairman and associate professor of economics, said the elimination of those programs was due to a reorganization of the biological sciences within the College of Agriculture in July 2003.

The programs were eliminated when they were split into three new departments: the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology and Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Schroeter said.

Alan Myers, professor and chairman of biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, said the departments were reorganized because of the changing nature of science. He said the departments were now organized by the type of science involved and not the type of organism being studied.

The programs would continue to be offered until the currently enrolled students graduate, Schroeter said. The students also have the option to transfer to one of the new departments.

Other programs are scheduled to be eliminated as well, but many of those programs are relatively small, he said.

Recently, Provost Ben Allen appointed a task force to look at programs with low enrollments. Many of the smaller programs being eliminated were inspired by the task force, Schroeter said, but the various departments decided to act on their own and eliminate the programs.

“The concern is out there,” he said.

Some programs, may have low enrollment, but would be costly to eliminate, he said. Non-major enrollment in some classes could be large, he said, and that would mean the courses and the programs are justifiable.

“Cost savings won’t lead to benefits,” he said.

The faculty are examining what changes need to be made to the catalog copy, and then they will make any necessary changes before submitting them to the Faculty Senate curriculum committee on April 30, Hulsebus said.

“Virtually every entity on campus is involved,” she said about the process.

By fall 2004, the Faculty Senate will review the changes, and by February 2005, the new catalog will available for the World Wide Web, she said.

“The process is somewhat tedious,” she said.