The University is merging six current schools and departments into a new college, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Jack Hamilton revealed yesterday.
The College of Education, the School of Social Work, the School of Library and Information Science, the School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development, the Department of Kinesiology and the College of Education and College of Agriculture's joint Early Childhood PK-3 program will be combined into a new college.
This decision comes after the University's budget committee, on which Hamilton sits, found compatibilities among the programs that could collectively strengthen them, Hamilton said.
But Hamilton said the change is not because of budget difficulties, and echoed that message to the deans and department chairs of the respective colleges.
"The provost said this isn't budget driven," said Melinda Solmon, interim chair of the Department of Kinesiology. "This is based on how to move the University forward."
Over time, the goal is for the college merger to increase faculty, raise revenues and gain more grants and contracts, he said.
Laura Lindsay, interim dean of the College of Education, said the combined structure will be "powerful, visible and viable." Lindsay said she will meet with each unit head and facilitate the transition by making sure every faculty member is engaged.
"We need to look at what's part of all of these colleges and ask what resources we have the ability to share," she said.
Solmon said the Department of Kinesiology is also supportive of the changes.
"It gives us the opportunity to grow," Solmon said. "We don't see a downside of it. We are a unit in the College of Education and we'll continue to be a department housed in a college. We're proud of what we do."
She said throughout the process, Hamilton asked everyone involved to think about the vision for their program and future.
The School of Social Work and School of Library and Information Science are "small units that are very vulnerable" as budget cuts loom, Hamilton said. By adding them to a larger unit, Hamilton said the programs will perch on a sounder foundation.
Hamilton also said the PK-3 program should be grouped with the College of Education, not the College of Agriculture, as it is currently organized.
"We're going to have much stronger individual units of a strong college," Hamilton said.
Students will not be impacted for the short-term because curricula will not change, Hamilton said.
The budget effects of this merger are unclear for now, but some money may be saved in the short-term, Hamilton said. By merging these programs, the University will be able to make better investments in the college in the future once budgets are stabilized, he said.
Faculty members from each program will work with Lindsay to draft a plan with details for the college, including a name, by Nov. 1, Hamilton said.
The proposal is then contingent on the LSU System Board of Supervisors' approval. If approved, the college will materialize in July.
The announcement of this consolidation came one week after Hamilton announced a merger for the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering under the College of Engineering and Computer Science in the College of Science.
Hamilton said unless the University faces a midyear budget cut, there are no plans for more mergers.
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Contact Andrea Gallo at agallo@lsureveille.com
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