RIT announces college name changes

Two of Rochester Institute of Technology’s larger colleges are changing their names to better reflect their academic missions and opportunities for students.

College of Art and Design will be the new name for what is now known as the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences.

College of Engineering Technology was chosen for what is now the College of Applied Science and Technology.

The new names take effect with the Fall 2018 semester, so diplomas of students graduating in December 2018 will bear the new college titles.

The new names were announced along with changes in the organization of the Provost’s Office, including the promotion of Christine Licata from senior associate provost to vice provost and the creation of University Studies, a division that will include the School of Individualized Studies (SOIS), University Exploration and RIT’s Honors Program. That division will report to James Hall, who will hold the title of dean of University Studies while retaining his title as executive director of SOIS. Robin Cass will remain as interim dean of the College of Art and Design and S. Manian Ramkumar continues as interim dean of the College of Engineering Technology.

“We’re very excited to announce these changes,” said Jeremy Haefner, RIT provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs. “The new names will allow us to better brand the educational opportunities those colleges offer, so we can continue to attract the finest students.  RIT has long been recognized as one of the nation’s best universities in these areas of study, and these name changes will help prospective students looking for careers in these areas to easily identify RIT as their top choice.”

Haefner said the new names also reflect the changing nature of these fields and the course offerings needed to prepare students for careers in these areas.

RIT has nine colleges, with schools and academic departments within each. The College of Art and Design includes five schools, many of which offer nationally ranked graduate and undergraduate programs in the fine arts: American Crafts; Art; Design, Film and Animation and Photographic Arts and Sciences. The School of Media Sciences is moving to the College of Engineering Technology to better align the curriculum with printing industry trends. 

The College of Art and Design, which has some 25,000 alumni around the world, currently has more than 1,600 undergraduates and 290 graduate students, and more than 140 full-time faculty.

The College of Engineering Technology includes four departments: civil engineering technology, environmental management and safety; electrical, computer and telecommunications engineering technology; manufacturing and mechanical engineering technology; and packaging science, plus RIT’s Army and Air Force ROTC programs. The college, which currently has 1,586 undergraduate and 303 graduate students, and 77 full time faculty, offers 10 undergraduate and seven graduate academic programs. It was previously announced that the School of International Hospitality and Service Innovation will move to Saunders College of Business, effective in 2019.