While the UA continues to undergo various changes, students in the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture might have one more matter to become accustomed to: a name change.

At a Dean’s forum Tuesday, College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture Dean Janice Cervelli announced to architecture students that the new name of the college might soon be the College of Sustainable Design.

“”We’re really trying to focus, I mean like a laser, on sustainable design,”” Cervelli said.

The idea for the name change came from Provost Meredith Hay, Cervelli said.

“”She highly suggested – which, when your boss says that to you, you know that it’s serious – that we work the title of sustainability into the college somehow,”” Cervelli, said.

In the CALA White Paper proposal, it was suggested that the CALA be renamed to “”the College for Design of Sustainable Environment.”” However, it was deemed by college administrators that the name was too long.

So, the previously suggested name was shortened to the College of Sustainable Design.

“”We said that it’s really important … that we never let people forget that we do architecture, landscape architecture and planning,”” said Cervelli.

David Joslin, an architecture graduate student who received his Bachelor’s degree in architecture at the UA, said he thinks the change will be “”a good way to describe the core of the college.””

Joslin said sustainability is “”a broad category touched on in every class,”” and he anticipates that it is “”going to become more of a focus.””

In addition to including “”sustainability”” in the college’s new name, the provost also spoke to Cervelli about combining architecture and engineering, “”into a similar kind of structure”” as the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Cervelli said.

“”All the reorganization that’s happened on the campus, the way it’s starting to shape up is that the provost is seeing programs or colleges that deal a lot with general education … they’ve now been brought under this big umbrella,”” Cervelli said. “”The provost was then trying to understand: what do you do with all those other colleges, particularly small ones, like us?””

For the CALA, being in the same college as engineering does not appear to be favorable.

“”We have nothing against engineering, they’re fine folks, great profession, however … it can create negative perceptions across the country that you are technologically oriented, almost to the extent where your design emphasis is suffering,”” Cervelli said. “”It’s a prejudice, it’s a perception, but it’s real.””

According to Cervelli, only three out of 120 architecture programs in the country are in the same college as an engineering program: Ohio State University, Oklahoma State University and Washington State University. None of those programs are ranked, she said.

“”So I told this to (President Robert Shelton) and the provost,”” Cervelli said. “”While we want to collaborate more closely with engineering, to be physically located within a college of engineering could have some real down sides.””

Cervelli is hopeful that the CALA has reached a place where it can be recognized as a professional college, like the James E. Rogers College of Law, she said.

“”I’m hoping that’s where we are,”” Cervelli said, “”I want to get that formally articulated by (the provost) so we don’t have to worry about the merger situation.””