Biology Department May Split Into Separate Academic Areas

A growing academic split in the Biology Department may result in the creation of two separate divisions or departments and a new undergraduate curriculum.

The final nature and extent of the split is still unclear, but it appears that at least one result will be an increase in the number and scope of biology courses offered.

Senior Faculty members in the department have been meeting since September in separate committees of cellular and developmental biology and of orgasmic and evolutionary biology (OEB). Previously the senior Faculty met together in one committee.

Each committee is actively recruiting new Faculty and planning new courses in its field, according to Edward O. Wilson, professor of Zoology and a member of the OEB group.

Cell Structure

Cellular and developmental biology is concerned with the structure of cells and their organization into tissues and organs. Organismic and evolutionary biology starts at that point and studies the development of entire organisms and populations, including animal behavior and evolution.

The cellular group is planning additions in the neurobiology area, while the OEB group is recruiting ecologists and behaviorists, Wilson said.

Members of the OEB committal hope to increase the importance of their fields in the department. John G. Torrey, professor of Botany and a member of the OEB group, said that Faculty appointments for the past ten years have been heavily concentrated in the fields of developmental and molecular biology, leaving the OEB area underrepresented.

With new specific responsibility for their area, OEB staff members are expected to offer more undergraduate courses. R. P. Levine, professor of Biology and chairman of the department, said that the undergraduate curriculum is currently weak in OEB areas.

Split Developed

Levine said that the split developed because of the large size of the Biology Department and the wide spectrum of academic opinions it represents. It had become difficult to reach a consensus within the department on undergraduate teaching, research, and Faculty appointments, Levine said.

Torrey said that this difficulty in reaching agreement within the department resulted in few Faculty appointments at the senior level within the past four years.

Concentrators Protested

Biology concentrators last Spring protested the small number of courses, especially in the organismic, ecological, and environmental areas. Torrey said that the situation was aggravated by the lack of Faculty appointments and by the lack of concern for those areas.

Difference of opinion in the Biology Department antedates the protest last Spring. In 1967 a group split off from the Biology Department to form the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. "This is a continuation of that Faculty unrest." Torrey said.