Amherst - The University of Massachusetts faculty will hold a rare general meeting next week to discuss a controversial plan to potentially reorganize nine of the campus' colleges.

The meeting was called by petition of the faculty. Faculty and librarians, along with Chancellor Robert C. Holub, will congregate Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. in the Campus Center Auditorium.

In light of an anticipated $45 million revenue gap for the university next year, UMass is considering whether to reorganize its nine colleges to save on administrative costs, among other cost-cutting measures. The proposal has stirred controversy on the Amherst campus, with some questioning the motives behind the reorganization and whether it would save the university a substantial amount of money.

Among the combinations being considered are merging the College of Humanities and Fine Arts with the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and stripping departments from other colleges to form a college for life sciences, according to emails to the chancellor from various college deans and department heads. No college reorganization decisions have been made yet, said Chancellor Robert C. Holub in an email to the campus community last week.

Faculty will ask prepared questions regarding the reorganization and its impact on UMass. Holub will conclude the meeting with a statement, according to the meeting's agenda.

The general faculty meeting will then be recessed until Feb. 9. The last time UMass faculty called a general meeting was in the midst of former Chancellor John V. Lombardi's ouster imbroglio in 2007. Before that, UMass had not called a general meeting of the faculty in decades.

Kristin Palpini can be reached at kpalpini@gazettenet.com [1] [1].