06/07/2017 12:00:00 AM Campus News, Science/TechnologyCollege of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, College of Science, College of Health and Public Servicestory Richard Dixon, BioDiversity Institute director and Distinguished Research Professor of biology (Photo by Ahna Hubnik) To help UNT expand and strengthen its prominence as a Carnegie-ranked Tier One research university, this spring the College of Arts and Sciences split into two new colleges focused on natural sciences and liberal arts. This change was planned to accelerate efforts to bolster research, program offerings and rankings. The split will provide more support for each department and program, will assist in recruitment efforts and is intended to yield additional grant funding and research dollars. Also, the College of Public Affairs and Community Service, led by Dean Tom Evenson, was renamed the College of Health and Public Service. It houses seven academic departments, including the new Department of Social Work. "By creating two separate colleges for the sciences and liberal arts, we'll be able not only to better support our faculty and students, but also to provide them with more focused and concentrated research opportunities," President Neal Smatresk says. "And the renaming of the College of Health and Public Service will provide more opportunities to grow programs related to allied health and put more prominence on pre-professional health track programs that will keep pace with today's industry needs." College of Science More than 10 percent of UNT students are enrolled in the College of Science's 12 undergraduate and 14 graduate degree programs in the departments of biological sciences, chemistry, mathematics and physics. It houses UNT's BioDiscovery Institute and Advanced Environmental Research Institute. The college has 122 full-time faculty members and is led by interim dean Su Gao, former chair of the math department, while a search for a permanent dean is underway. The College of Science also is home to Teach North Texas, a program to prepare and support secondary math and science teachers. Majors can participate in Teach North Texas by completing 21 hours of structured, hands-on coursework, which can be taken as a minor, and remain on track for graduation. "Creating a college devoted solely to science is an effort to better prepare our UNT science community for the future, by giving us new resources and stand-alone abilities to expand our strong research programs and earn additional research grants," Gao says. College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences offers 69 degree programs in its 21 departments and programs. The dean is David Holdeman, who served as dean of the former College of Arts and Sciences. The college is home to the Air Force ROTC and Army ROTC programs and custom-tailored undergraduate degrees in integrative studies and social science. With an integrative studies degree, students self-select three areas of interest and complete all coursework in those focus areas. The social science degree equips students to respond to cultural, economic, political and technological changes in the future. "Our goal in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences is to continue to prepare our students to achieve success and become the next generation of civic leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, performers and scholars," says Holdeman. "We remain eclectic and provide students with numerous and interdisciplinary choices for their future careers." College of Health and Public Service (HPS) Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Department of Behavior Analysis Department of Criminal Justice Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science Department of Public Administration Department of Rehabilitation and Health Services Department of Social Work HPS Programs Public Affairs and Community Engagement College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) Department of Anthropology Department of Communication Studies Department of Dance and Theatre Department of Economics Department of English Department of Geography and the Environment Department of History Department of Media Arts Department of Philosophy and Religion Department of Political Science Department of Psychology Department of Sociology Department of Technical Communication Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures CLASS Programs Aerospace Studies International Studies Jewish and Israel Studies LGBT Studies Military Science Oral History Women's and Gender Studies College of Science (COS) Department of Biological Sciences Department of Chemistry Department of Mathematics Department of Physics COS Programs Forensic Science Teach North Texas