Academic Senate hears update on Academic Organizational Review
Senior Vice Provost Ian Davison speaks at Academic Senate meeting on Dec. 5 in Pearce Hall.
More than 65 proposals are up for review during Central Michigan University's ongoing academic strategic planning process.
Ian Davison, senior vice provost for the academic organization review initiative, offered an update Dec. 5 to the Academic Senate. The senate spent more than an hour discussing the organizational progress. The reorganization will be implemented in 2022.
Davison said Committee I, the academic structure committee of Central Michigan University’s organizational review, has the leading number of proposals with 42. Proposals include the request for more than 20 new academic departments, six colleges, 12 department transfers to different colleges and five new schools.
One of the most recent transfer proposals was initiated by the neuroscience program.
Gary Dunbar, director of the neuroscience program, and four senior faculty members submitted the proposal on Nov. 17. They requested to be transferred from the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences (CHSBS) to the College of Health Professions (CHP) or the College of Medicine (CMED.)
Davison said a majority of proposals have come from CHP, CHSBS and the College of Communications and Fine Arts (CCFA).
Committee I will have a day-long retreat Friday, Dec. 8 to review proposals. Davison said the goal of this is to to begin the development of committee reports.
He added he is fairly confident Committee II, the academic support committee; and Committee III, the responsibility centered management committee, will be prepared to release official reviews by the beginning of next year.
Melinda Kreth, chair of the English Language and Literature department, said assessing CMU’s unique college and departmental organization has led her to ask what defines a school.
“We have some schools that work more like departments and others look more like mini-colleges,” she said. “That’s relevant under the perspective of whether we’ll need a chair or if we need to have something like an associate or assistant dean in charge.”
Kreth said Committee I will review the organizational structure of peer institutes — including colleges and universities throughout Michigan and a large number of Mid-American Conference (MAC) schools. She said the committee noticed how many colleges CMU has and how it is unusual among Midwest schools.
Additional Business
The Academic Senate unanimously passed the program deletion of the Bachelor of Science Accounting Information Systems major through the College of Business Administration.
Members also unanimously passed a resolution to make the Writing Center Advisory Council (WCAC) a standing committee to serve the Writing Center and Academic Senate. The WCAC comprises of 13 members, including:
- Director of the Writing Center
- Graduate assistant (Writing Center consultant)
- Undergraduate student (Writing Center consultant)
- Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
- Director of General Education
- A faculty member from each college, libraries and counseling services
The committee is responsible for suggesting procedures and policies centered on learning outcomes and assessment of the Writing Intensive (WI) competency. The group will also produce presentations, programs and workshops for improving writing efficiency throughout CMU.
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