Students, faculty and alumni of the College of Education said Monday they appreciated spending reductions being kept away from instruction — when the College of Family and Consumer Sciences joins the education college, only administrative positions will be lost.

But some worry education programs will lose clarity and focus when they fall under the same heading as the consumer science offerings.

“I’d rather cut it there than on the front line,” said Karen Stiles, an ISU alumna who teaches marine biology at Central Academy in Des Moines, a school for academically gifted children in the Des Moines area. “The truth is, if you’ve got good, strong faculty, the programs won’t suffer.”

Mike Faris, who graduated with an English education degree in May 2003 and teaches at Colfax-Mingo Middle School, said the College of Education as it’s currently constructed has just one goal.

“Their goal was to create quality teachers,” he said. “It’s going to be easier to ignore the education college if it’s not its own separate entity … I think that it will be detrimental.”

Faris said extraordinary effort might keep education programs from declining in the combined setup, but said he wasn’t optimistic.

“I don’t think it’s a wise move at all,” he said.

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said he estimates between eight and 15 jobs will be eliminated in the college merge, which may save Iowa State as much as $700,000 annually.

“I understand they need to save money,” said Julie Long, senior in elementary education. “I do think it’s unfortunate.”

Long said she felt College of Education officials would take steps to assure the academic and professional welfare of their current and future students.

Roger Smith, professor and interim chairman of industrial education and technology, said the change — ISU officials aren’t describing it as a “merger” —makes sense because of the similar goals of the two colleges, along with some of the current circumstances in the two sets of administrations.

“A lot of the leadership is going to remain the same,” he said, pointing out that many administrators are tenured faculty that could return to full-time teaching and research.

“Both of the colleges have some openings right now … It’s an opportune time.”

Smith also said the combined college might have a “stronger voice” in the ISU community.

Stiles said the science she learned as an ISU student — along with curriculum and instruction courses in the College of Education — has been invaluable in her experience as a secondary school teacher.

“I had a fear they might take the College of Education totally out,” she said. “The types of science I was able to pick up at Iowa State were far more diverse than I could have gotten out of the University of Northern Iowa.”

The University of Northern Iowa has the state’s largest teacher education program.

Stiles said she has often seen high school students interested in education try to follow their teachers’ footsteps.

“A lot of times, students see their teachers as mentors,” she said. “I’m very proud to be an Iowa State alum.”