YORK UNIVERSITY'S Atkinson College is now the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies.

Ron Bordessa, Atkinson's dean, said it was time to "differentiate" Atkinson from York's Faculty of Arts and Glendon College which both emphasize liberal arts.

While the term "college" will disappear from Atkinson's name, Atkinson will become an undergraduate college like other colleges at York. Students will be members of Atkinson College as others are members of, for example, Stong or McLaughlin Colleges.

Bordessa called Atkinson's new role "distinctive". The name change proposal included a recommendation to establish a number of schools at Atkinson. They are:

School of Administrative Studies

consists of a range of business and administrative disciplines.

School of Arts and Letters

offers a combination of the major disciplines of English, fine arts, history and humanities, and the pan-school programs of Canadian studies, late antique, medieval and pre-modern studies, cultural studies, religious studies, writing programs and women's studies.

School of Analytic Studies and Information Technology

comprises the former departments of Economics, Mathematics, Science & Technology Studies, and the applied and professional courses from Philosophy, new and growing information technology programs.

School of Health Policy and Management

is a new initiative housing programs that will lead to a specialized honours degree in health policy, health management and health informatics.

School of Nursing

this school is already established and will continue to offer its post-Registered Nursing (RN) Bachelor of Science and a collaborative BScN in partnership with Georgian College and Seneca College.

School of Social Sciences

is an existing school offering interdisciplinary degrees in social sciences, public service studies and communication studies and discipline-based degrees in geography, political science, sociology and urban studies. A certificate in anti-racist research and practice and a certificate in public management have been approved by York's senate.