Two new departments at Ball State began their first semester after being formed by the Ball State Board of Trustees in July.
The Department of Family, Consumer and Technology Education and the Department of Construction Management and Interior Design have both taken part in phasing out the College of Applied Sciences and Technology (CAST), which the University Senate dissolved in April.
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Department of Family, Consumer and Technology Education
Scott Hall, the chairperson for the Department of Family, Consumer and Technology Education, said the department is currently designed to be temporary.
“Over the course of the next year, the programs within the department will be discussed in terms of finding more permanent locations within the Teachers College that make the most sense for the long-term benefit of our students,” he said.
The vision of the department, which is part of the Teachers College, is to offer courses that prepare students for a career after graduation.
“We share a vision of offering practical and often education-oriented courses that prepare students to work in service-oriented fields — working with children and families, or typically teaching various applied content in middle or high schools,” he said.
Hall also said there’s a need for graduates in family, consumer and technology education because of today’s society.
Department of Construction Management and Interior Design
James Jones, the chairperson of the Department of Construction Management and Interior Design, said the combination of these areas of study has improved organization between the department and the students.
“This department combines construction management, which was in the department of technology, and interior design, which was in the department of family consumer sciences, into a single unit that is now part of the college of architecture and planning, so that college now is about 1,000 strong,” he said.
The department, which is a part of the College of Architecture and Planning, is located in the Applied Technology Building, which Jones said is an advantage for students.
“All the building-related majors are now in a single college, and the intent for that is that’s the way it will be when everyone graduates," he said. "That’s the way the professionals work."
What hasn’t changed is the curriculum, but a set of transition committees in the College of Architecture and Planning are working to “see how [it] might best integrate curriculum together.”
“There’s no changes to the student curriculum right now. We are just combing the programs separately into a single department," Jones said.
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