Last April, for the first time in eight years, the Academic Senate convened so hundreds of faculty members could express concern about wide-sweeping changes administrators were planning without their input.

At that point, the faculty stood up and voiced their opinions in a process that would, among other things, reorganize the College of Arts & Letters and the College of Communication Arts & Sciences into one large body devoted to the study of the liberal arts and sciences. The college was suggested to be named, CALM, or the College of Communication, Arts, Languages and Media. But the proposed name was an ironic contrast to an organization process that was anything but.

With the meeting of the senate, faculty put in its two cents about the reorganization, and a year of meetings, discussion and planning followed. When the dust of their labors settled, the end decision made by the administration was to abandon the plan entirely - unless faculty members expressed a desire to push it forward.

It's an unfulfilling ending to a not-so-exciting story, isn't it?

After serious talk of major changes to the colleges, which also included a proposal to expand the College of Social Science, administrators abandoned the project like a child and left it on the faculty's doorstep. What had been touted as a sweeping reform when it was announced, is now being waved off as merely an idea officials were casually toying with. In essence, the university is backing away from the whole sordid mess with its tail between its legs. The fact that the situation ended as it did suggests the university should use a bit more caution and ask for more input when trying to implement such enormous projects in the future.

The dissatisfaction with the whole ordeal has left faculty members such as Grover Hudson, a linguistics professor and president of the MSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors, to dub it a waste of time.

But though he should be angered that the university tried to push a reform on faculty and subsequently reneged on the whole idea, there is a bigger, more positive way to look at the episode.

Although nothing came of faculty and administration collaborations, it was a collaboration. It brought faculty and administrators together for an important discussion on university issues. They discussed ways to improve education, and that's always a topic that needs to be kept fresh in the minds of educators.

Perhaps most importantly, the situation brought about the first meeting of Academic Senate in eight years. Faculty members showed their strength in numbers. They validated that they have sway within their workplace. The energy of that movement is something to seize upon and use for other issues.

As the old proverb says, the journey is its own reward. The end result of discussions to reorganize MSU's colleges was a victory for building a stronger working relationship.