The discussions were part of many which took place October 2009 after the university budget was cut, which included placing the program on moratorium.

Ongoing meetings among the dean of the college, faculty members and the department chair eventually ended with the consensus that the program should be kept, Wilcox said.

“It’s important to remember that every department on this campus plays an important role ­­— it’s a matter of making sure that we can keep the right portfolio of high quality programs together,” Wilcox said.

The department worked to create new goals to ensure it was moving in the right direction and was contributing to the college after it was decided to be continued, said Tom Vogel, a retired faculty member who continues to do research with the department and was one of the advocates for the department.

Goals include working to build the undergraduate, graduate and research programs within the department, Kirkpatrick said.

“I think it was a shock and the shock was effective,” Vogel said.
“It woke up the department. Maybe their actions were the right thing to do because they put the department on the right path.”

The potential end of the department affected students on a personal level.

After spending more than a year researching and finally choosing a new major, geological sciences senior Cody MacDonald potentially faced another life decision: changing majors again and remaining at MSU, or transferring and continuing his education as a geological science major.

“It was kind of (a hard hit) because I switched from a business major, and I took a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to switch into,” he said. “It was pretty devastating.”

Some students, alumni and faculty members spoke out in favor of keeping the program.

“I was extremely disappointed and tried to work hard to convince the dean and others that (the department should be kept),” Vogel said. “We had a lot of support from our alumni, not only in terms of writing letters but actually going to board meetings — talking to the dean and the provost.”

Although the alumni support helped influence the survival of the department, the placement of David Hyndman as the new department chair was the biggest factor in keeping the department, Kirkpatrick said. The value of the program to the college also played a large role in keeping the program, he said.

Hyndman was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

“We were able to find a department chair who has a vision and who can lead this department forward,” Kirkpatrick said. “There’s that and the recognition that geological science is a core part of the scientific enterprise.”

The surprise and scare of almost having the department closed has inspired a greater interest in the program by both students and faculty members.

MacDonald, president of the MSU Geology Club, said more students are participating in the club, which is planning a trip to Ireland during spring break.