Regents approve environment college

SEATTLE – University of Washington regents have voted to create a new College of the Environment.

School spokesman Bob Roseth said the idea is to consolidate related faculty from existing degree programs elsewhere in the university. The regents voted Thursday.

Atmospheric sciences Professor Dennis Hartman has been tapped to serve as interim dean, helping figure out the new college’s mission and academic programs, as well as which faculty and departments may want to become part of the new enterprise.

Roseth said some faculty members have expressed concern about loss of stature or dissolution of existing degree programs.

But Regent Craig Cole said the cross-disciplinary work envisioned for the new college is important because the issues facing the world aren’t easily resolved in an academic structure created 50 years ago.