College of Human Services and Health Professions changes its name

College of Human Services and Health Professions changes its nameDecember 06, 2007Gillian Ottmangeottma@syr.edu

Effective immediately, the College of Human Services and Health Professions has changed its name to the College of Human Ecology.

The name change is a result of several months of work to create a new name that captures the diversity of the college’s programs. Within the college are the departments of child and family studies, health and wellness, hospitality management, marriage and family therapy, nutrition sciences and dietetics, and sport management and the School of Social Work.

The decision to rename the college received unanimous support of the college faculty and Board of Visitors (composed of college alumni and friends of the college), and the approval of the University Senate, Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric F. Spina, Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor and the University Board of Trustees.

The College of Human Ecology represents the educational, outreach and research aspirations of its diverse departments. Each of the departments focuses on the human — as a single individual in a family, in a group or in the community — and the promotion of physical, emotional, and social well-being through personal development, social relationships, workplaces and leisure. The new name also captures both the unique contributions of each of these academic units and the relationships that exist among them.

“It is my hope that our new name will signal renewed efforts to seek commonalities across the areas of study represented in the college and the education, outreach and research we provide,” says Dean Diane Lyden Murphy.

The graduating classes of December 2007 and May 2008 will receive degrees from the College of Human Services and Health Professions; as of December 2008, all degrees will be from the College of Human Ecology. The new name will emerge on a step-by-step basis across the University. For example, the name change will be reflected in all SU publications, admissions brochures and transcripts by summer 2008.