Academic Reorganization

Throughout the fall 2019 term, departments and colleges are to engage in internal and cross-department/college conversation. These conversations are designed to create recommendations for departmental consolidation due by December 2, 2019. The spring term will be designated for discussions to determine the mechanics/processes that will enable the consolidations to occur Summer 2020. The reorganization criteria include the following:

As the Provost mentioned in his campus communication of October, 2019 to the faculty, this exercise is more than a resource stewardship one; however, the broader intent is creative thinking around the nature of our programs and the communities and stakeholders we serve.

Academic reorganization affords us the opportunity to reflect on course and curricular offerings, as well as the ways in which we offer them, two means of institutional distinctiveness that have enabled institutions to thrive in today’s competitive environment. All departments and colleges are invited to engage in such discussion this academic year. This may lead to new thinking about what we offer and how we offer it, perhaps via new cross-department or college partnerships, or involving departments with their own proposals for reorganization not necessarily linked to the above criteria.

The resources of this website are designed to assist departments and colleges with this exercise as well as to access materials and content that have enabled other universities to grow enrollments, attract excellent faculty, and ensure high standards in program offerings. The materials are not intended to infer a specific approach is best and should be adopted, but rather to see the range of possibilities that are being deployed and/or that are informing change efforts. The website is intended to be dynamic, namely that we will add content over time, and welcome your suggestions as well.

Getting Started:

Internal Department Discussion Questions
List of WP Programs
Finding WP Data: Office of Institutional Effectiveness

External Market Data:

National Center for Education Statistics Fast Facts
Good Jobs Project: Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce
Different Skills, Different Gaps: Burning Glass Technologies
US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Labor Projections
New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development: Employment Statistics
New Jersey Higher Education: Office of the Secretary

Case Examples of Innovation in Higher Education:

A New Model American University: Arizona State University (video)
A Cluster’s Approach: Plymouth State University (video)
Continuum College: University of WA and the 60 Year Curriculum (video)
Capital CoLAB: Consortium with Business (video)
A College Tears Down Silos: Making an Entrepreneurial University
A University Reinvention Story: The University of Southern California (video)
Academic Department Structure Refreshed: University of MN Crookston

Helpful Articles, Reports, and Related Content:

Ways to Innovate for Student Success
The Right Kind of Innovation that is Mission aligned
25 Examples of Excellence: The Future of Higher Education
Undergrads and Information Technologies: A Study of Use and Preferences
Emerging Technology with Implications for Higher Education: An EDUCAUSE Report
DataLab at Carnegie Mellon: Largest Repository of Information on How People Learn
Open Learning Initiative: Accelerating Student Learning
A Place for the Humanities in Today’s Environment
Reinventing the Liberal Arts: A TED Talk (video)
Universities and the Future of Innovation: A TED Talk (video)
Organizing Higher Education for Interdisciplinary Learning (video)
The Technology Mediated Learning Environment: Candace Thille (video)
Shift Happens: Provocative Insights on the Pace of Change and Jobs (video)
Replacing or Enhancing Unpopular Majors: Two Views
Radical Survival Strategies: (NYT article)