Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1994 [PAGE 315]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

1995]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

303

Illinois Board of Higher Education and the governor. In addition, the Great Cities Institute is expected to generate significant external support from Federal, State, and local governments, the corporate sector, and philanthropic organizations. The vice president for academic affairs concurs in this recommendation. The University Senates Conference has indicated that no further senate jurisdiction is involved. I recommend approval, pending further action by the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

On motion of Mrs. Gravenhorst, this recommendation was approved. Change of Name of Department and Degree Program, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Urbana

(9) The chancellor at Urbana, upon the recommendation of the Urbana-Champaign Senate, recommends the approval of a proposal to change the name of the department (Department of Physiology and Biophysics), graduate program (Graduate Program in Physiology), and undergraduate option (Option in Physiology) to that of molecular and integrative physiology. The present name for the department does not depict the changes in biological research that have occurred over the last twenty years, nor does it reflect the fact that the program in biophysics is no longer in the department, having been transferred to the School of Life Sciences in 1992. The new name will more accurately convey to the outside community the actual nature of the training program and faculty research. As such, it will facilitate recruitment of graduate and undergraduate students with interests most closely aligned with the training provided. The current teaching objectives of the department will not be affected by the name change, nor are there any budgetary or staff implications. The vice president for academic affairs concurs with this recommendation. The University Senates Conference has indicated that no further senate jurisdiction is involved. I recommend approval.

On motion of Mrs. Gravenhorst, this recommendation was approved. Establishment of a Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, School of Life Sciences; and Renaming the Existing PH.D. Program in Biophysics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Urbana

(10) The chancellor at Urbana, upon the recommendation of the Urbana-Champaign Senate, recommends the approval of a proposal to establish a Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology within the School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Thirty years ago, when the program in biophysics was formally incorporated with physiology into the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, the association of biophysics with physiology was a natural one. Since that time, however, the field of biophysics has grown dramatically. The UIUC program has also grown substantially, both in student enrollments and in faculty appointments. The singular association with physiology on this campus has inhibited the fundamentally interdisciplinary nature of biophysics, and the ability of the program to respond to any further intellectual development in the field has been limited by the departmental arrangement. The advantages of a separate administrative structure for biophysics have been recognized by several review committees since the mid-1970's, and this proposal is the eventual realization of their recommendations. The transfer of the biophysics program to the School of Life Sciences in 1992 was effected in order to establish the program in an independent mode.