Increasingly, new curricular opportunities become apparent at the interfaces between existing disciplines, especially those between technological and societal fields.  Examples might include theater technology, technical, scientific, and professional communications, entrepreneurship, technology and public policy, and environmental policy and development.  The Working Group on Interface Disciplines should issue an RFP to the faculty, receive and evaluate proposals, and recommend, in priority order, those worthy of receiving funding for development as new degree programs.  Proposed degrees could be either undergraduate or graduate, should be innovative, should involve educational technology where appropriate, should maximize use of existing strengths and resources, and must include cost analyses and assessment plans.

It is important that the Working Group conduct its deliberations in light of cross-cutting issues important to our university.  They are diversity, sustainability, interdisciplinary collaboration, faculty workload, student success/retention/graduation, quality of life, and community citizenship.

The members of the Working Group are:

• Doris Derelian (Chair), Food Science and Nutrition
• Jerry DeMers, Kinesiology
• Dan Peterson, Animal Science
• Mary Armstrong, Women’s Studies
• Lynne Slivovsky, Electrical Engineering
• Jasna Jovanovic, Psychology and Child Development
• Jane Lehr, Ethnic Studies
• Blair London, Materials Engineering
• Pat Lin, Philosophy
• Greg Barata, Music
• Tracy Thatcher, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Thomas Rice, Earth and Social Sciences
• Will Hughes, Materials Engineering
• Clint Staley, Computer Science
• Michael Haungs, Computer Science
• Brian Self, Mechanical Engineering
• Anita Hernandez, Education
• Lou Tornatzky, Industrial Technology
• Roberta Herter, Education
• Diana Stanton, Theater and Dance
• Eric Mehiel, Aerospace Engineering
• Raul Cano, Biological Sciences