By Alyssa Allemand
The deadline for Edgewood College’s academic restructuring plan remains July 1, though the new college president, Andrew Manion, will begin on June 1.
It has been decided that the college will merge its current five schools into two.
The schools do not have official titles yet, but one will consist of arts and sciences, education, and interdisciplinary programs, said Margaret Noreuil, interim academic dean. The other will contain nursing, business, and health sciences.
Noreuil said at this time, the college is finalizing the infrastructures of the two schools – that is, what departments and programs will reside where, along with the financial impact of the new model. “The goal of this restructuring is to better serve students and faculty, and decrease costs as we’ve experiences declining student enrollment,” she said.
By moving from five schools to two, five deans will be reduced to two deans. John Fields, who resumed the role of dean of Arts and Sciences after Melanie Herzog’s resignation March 31, said beginning July 1, he will continue his role as interim dean of the school containing arts and sciences, education, and interdisciplinary programs.
Fields said that “unlike many other institutions trying to deal with the current budget crisis in higher ed, Edgewood College is unusual in trying to tackle it, at least in part, through a significant reduction in the number of administrators.
“What this means to me is that, for sheer practical reasons, there will now need to be more decisions that are made at the divisional and departmental level. Or, in other words, all other things being equal, fewer ‘bosses’ should equal greater autonomy” for individual departments and programs.
Colleen Gullickson, interim dean of the school overseeing nursing, business, and health sciences, said this shift to two schools will also allow for faculty to teach across schools, “hopefully eliminating silos between departments and schools.”
Fields has shared a restructuring plan with the Arts and Sciences Chair’s Council, the leadership of the School of Education, the Dean’s Council and the President’s Council. Though it is not confirmed yet, Fields said this school would include the arts; behavioral sciences; biological sciences; education; humanities; physical sciences, mathematics and computer and information sciences; and social sciences.
Noreuil said that decisions on “stand-alone” areas are also being finalized. “The academic side of the house has several other very important areas,” she said, noting the general education curriculum, the COR program, the Center for Multicultural Education, the Center for Global Studies, the student research program, the Honors program, the Bonner program, the college library and the registrar’s office, among others.
The restructuring model will be announced as soon as it is approved by the board of trustees, said Noreuil.
Manion is responsible for filling all interim roles during his transition as president of Edgewood College this summer.
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