By fall, Lyman Briggs School could become a college — just in time for its 40th anniversary.

Students within the school hope the Executive Committee of Academic Council focuses its discussion at today's meeting on how the proposed change will affect students.

It is the first time the issue will be discussed within the university's Academic Governance system.

Melissa Elafros, a Lyman Briggs junior majoring in human biology and Spanish, said the school deserves to become a college because it is on the same level as other living and learning institutions on campus — all of which are colleges.

"Michigan State has James Madison, which is a college, and now we have a college in arts and humanities," she said, referring to the new residential college in the arts and humanities set to open this fall. "So for Lyman Briggs — which is on the same level — to not be a college is, well, I wouldn't say it's insulting, but it's something along those lines. We need the same recognition."

Students in Lyman Briggs — a residential school located in Holmes Hall that specializes in the sciences — hope the committee takes into account not only the logistical concerns of the change, but also the impact it could have on them.

"I hope that the governance committee actually gives the professors and faculty at Lyman Briggs a chance to prove that they are worthy of being a college," Elafros said. "I'd have to say the best way for them to see that is to come in and sit in one of the classes and experience the daily life.

"But because that's not going to happen, I hope that they will be able to see that."

The school was created in the 1960s as a college, but in 1981, Lyman Briggs became a school within the College of Natural Sciences because of financial problems and political issues, Lyman Briggs Director Elizabeth H. Simmons said.

In a memorandum to the executive committee, Provost Kim Wilcox said he supports the transition. Wilcox could not be reached for comment Monday.

Medical technology and physiology sophomore Aditi Mitra, who is in the Lyman Briggs School, strongly supports the proposed change.

"I hope they keep in mind that it's for the benefit of the students," she said. "That the common goal of the discussion of all the people there should lead towards the benefit of Lyman Briggs students."

Mitra said the living-learning school is a positive experience for students because of help rooms within the building and the fact that many teaching assistants live in the same area.

"Lyman Briggs is important to me personally because I feel that I have benefited a great deal," Mitra said.

"It's mainly because the classes are geared specifically toward my field of interest — the life sciences — and my classes are smaller compared to general undergraduate MSU classes.

"It's really convenient for a lot of science majors to go ahead and get help when we need it."

Anjali Rohatgi, a biochemistry senior in the school, wants the committee to discuss how Lyman Briggs can better collaborate with other colleges to ensure a more well-rounded education.

"They go about it differently than other colleges in that they have their humanities classes with science being included, which is interesting, and some of the classes are really great and a lot of the professors they have are amazing," she said. "But it wasn't exactly what I was looking for in humanities classes."

Rohatgi said it is sometimes difficult for students in the school to meet people outside the walls of Holmes Hall, which she said could be a possible downside to turning the school into a college.

"While it's good to have that community for studying things, I think that a lot of potential interactions are lost in just having such a closed community," she said.

Collaboration with similar institutions — James Madison College, the new residential college in the arts and humanities and the Honors College — is one of Simmons' main concerns.

"Logistically, we could be much more of an equal partner in these collaborations if we are a college like the other three," she said.

Simmons hopes the committee will refer the issue to the appropriate standing committee and that the matter will be reviewed this spring, if possible.

"We'd like to be a college for the fall semester," Simmons said. "It would nice to be a college in time for the 40th anniversary celebration."