At their November meeting, the University Academic Planning Council approved the establishment of a new academic department – called the Department of Biology – from the Department of Botany and the Department of Integrative Biology in the College of Letters & Science, effective summer 2026.  

The topic had been previously addressed at UAPC’s September meeting. Ahead of this earlier meeting, CALS leaders made it clear the college supported the merger itself, but had significant concerns about the new “Department of Biology” name, including potentially confusing prospective biology majors and misrepresenting the large number of biologists outside of this single department. Due to these concerns, UAPC conditionally approved the merger – pending the identification of a name to be brought back to UAPC in November.  

To deliberate on the name, Interim Provost John Zumbrunnen appointed a Merged Department Name Working Group. The working group comprised five faculty members from L&S as well as five from CALS: Samer Alatout, community and environmental sociology; Amaya Atucha, plant and agroecosystem sciences; Jake Brunkard, genetics; Sara Gragg, animal and dairy sciences; and Sean Scoville, entomology. The group met twice, engaging in substantive conversations about several name options, but was ultimately unable to reach a consensus.   

“I sincerely appreciate the efforts of the working group members who participated in this shared governance committee to examine the issue from many perspectives,” says Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Jeri Barak. “While this isn’t the outcome the college administration was hoping for, we will continue to offer our CALS biology major just the same, and we will work with L&S to mitigate the potential impacts of the new department name on the college.”   

Barak and her team will be exploring options including increasing CALS marketing to prospective students interested in the biology major, discussing a potential memorandum of understanding with L&S on how to best move forward, and encouraging CALS faculty to serve on important committees, including the University Academic Planning Council.