Board supports reorganization plan

Grand Valley's Board of Trustees supported the new organizational plan for Academic and Student Affairs at its December 3 meeting.

Provost Gayle Davis said the plan, which President Mark A. Murray approved on November 24, will enable the university to advance its mission and address structural problems that have come with its rapid growth. She said reorganization will facilitate consistent implementation of policies and aid work with external academic and non-academic entities.

'It will also establish support, information networks and a climate conducive to greater collaborative relationships, sense of intellectual community and synergy among faculty and students,' Davis said.

The new organizational structure for Academic Affairs and budget for 2004-0 5 will be implemented on July 1, with a transition period to follow. The report is posted online at www.gvsu.edu/reorganization/ .

One of the major changes is the implementation of the College of Liberal Art s and Sciences. This new college combines all of the departments in the current divisions of Arts and Humanities, Science and Mathematics, and Social Sciences except for the major professional programs. Davis said the CLAS is a nationally recognized model used at many colleges and universities that 'espouse a liberal education mission.'

Proposing the CLAS resulted in objections from some faculty and staff members in departments that would move from their current divisions into the new college, according to Davis. Some objected to its large size, predicting it would lack a sense of community and decrease access to the dean.

Davis said she seeks to address those concerns in the new plan through creation of four CLAS subdivisions, each led by an associate dean.

'The reorganization allows cohesive integration of the traditional disciplines of liberal arts and sciences as a whole in CLAS, while fully supporting each individual discipline within the college,' she said.

Another major change was creating a C ollege of University-wide and Interdisciplinary Initiatives, which will include Liberal Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Area Studies (African/African American Studies, Middle East Studies, Latin American Studies and East Asian Studies), General Educati on, Honors College and Freshman Studies. It will also include services and support of the Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center, Writing Center, Supplemental Writing Skills Program and Padnos International Center.

The new College of Community and Publ ic Service will combine Public and Nonprofit Administration, Criminal Justice, Hospitality and Tourism Management and the Johnson Center for Philanthropy with the currently autonomous School of Social Work.

The Department of Computer Science/Information Systems will merge with the Padnos School of Engineering to form the College of Engineering and Computing.

The School of Health Professions will become a new college; currently those programs fall under the Science and Mathematics Division.

'This plan will help the university's progress toward achieving goals explained in the mission statement,' Davis said. 'The structural change helps to prepare Grand Valley for the next decade of growth and new opportunities.'¿