100 ORGANIZING ACADEMIC COLLEGES: A GUIDE FOR DEANS Academic and administrative leaders and governing bodies grapple with defining an organizational structure that best meets the needs of Arts and Sciences depart- ments as well as meeting the vision of their institution. Historically, the liberal arts (the trivium and quadrivium) functioned as the foundation of Westernized higher education. As institutions grew, Arts and Sciences were organized into a college(s) distinct from newer colleges with applied or professional emphases. Debates about the centrality of the Arts and Sciences are not new. In 1967, the Board of Directors of CCAS recognized the challenges of creating an effective struc- ture to meet the diverse needs of Arts and Sciences departments. CCAS noted that college reorganizations were underway at Kentucky, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Rutgers universities and sent this position statement to NASULGC (formerly the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, now the Associ- ation of Public and Land-grant Universities, or APLU): A survey of the administrative changes already proposed or adopted indicates that a particular organization structure for any institution may require unique features in response to such factors as the history of the institution, special or local objectives, the time at which changes are made, and even the geographical relations of its academic unit. Such a survey also indicates that other factors may tend even more strongly to influence the resulting organization, among them narrowing of focus within separate disciplines on individual campuses, increasing attention to graduate and professional students, and an emphasis on research. While the Commis- sion applauds the limitation of fields in order to achieve the depth some- times necessary to new discoveries and admires the better preparation of graduate students which often results, it sees these are significant but not controlling factors to be considered in determining the administra- tive organization of a state university or land-grant college. An exclusive emphasis on these may too easily lead to an administrative structure so designed that fragmentation of the liberal education of undergraduates is inevitable. Thus the Commission recommends to the presidents of NASULGC institutions that in undertaking a review of the administrative struc- tures involving the arts and sciences on their campuses they insist that the enhancement of the liberal education of undergraduates be the prin- ciple goal of the resulting structures and that the final plans be such as to insure the faculty and administration of the liberal education programs full support in carrying out their responsibilities. [italics added].1 1 Resolution passed at the Business Meeting at the November 1967 CCAS Annual Meeting.