Armstrong Atlantic State University’s largest academic unit, the College of Arts and Sciences, has been reorganized into two distinct colleges. The structural changes will increase opportunities for interdisciplinary research, grant writing, and strengthen relationships among different academic departments within the university.

The new structure will provide additional opportunities for students to conduct research at the undergraduate level.

The new colleges are the College of Science and Technology and the College of Liberal Arts. Further, the academic departments that belonged in the former School of Computing are now part of the College of Science and Technology.

“The new structure creates more opportunities for students to conduct research at the undergraduate level,” said Ellen Whitford, AASU vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty. The changes also create new potential for collaborations among departments and across academic fields. Further, there are new opportunities for additional academic programs, as particular community needs or labor force demands are identified in the region.

“We had a very large College of Arts and Sciences and one small School of Computing,” said Whitford. “Science and technology today are interdisciplinary programs that don’t stand alone, but are very much interrelated.”

Discussions regarding an academic reorganization began in early 2007. Whitford, working with deans and department heads, identified a need for an improved academic structure that would make better use of faculty expertise and provide a better environment for students, faculty and staff.

The College of Science and Technology includes the departments of computer science, information technology, engineering, chemistry and physics, biology, mathematics, and psychology.

The College of Liberal Arts includes the departments of languages, literature and philosophy (one department), art, music and theatre (one department), criminal justice, social and political science (one department), economics, history, liberal studies, and military science.

In addition to the College of Science and Technology and the College of Liberal Arts, Armstrong Atlantic’s other academic units include the College of Education and the College of Health Professions.

Armstrong Atlantic State University, part of the University System of Georgia, was founded in 1935.

The university offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate academic programs in the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science and Technology, the College of Education, and the College of Health Professions. Armstrong Atlantic serves more than 6,800 students.

While 43 percent are from the Savannah-Chatham County area, the diverse student population comes from nearly all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 70 countries.