A committee has been formed to review the infrastructure of Metro State’s three schools – Business; Letters, Arts and Sciences; and Professional Studies – in order to recommend to the president and provost whether or not any changes to academic organizational structures should be made.

Richard Wagner, interim associate vice president for academic affairs, curriculum and programs, is the chair of the College Reorganization Committee. “I believe this is part of President Jordan’s three-phase plan he announced when he started,” Wagner said. “The College is now in the growth and assessment phase and we’re to make sure that there are no obstacles in our academic structure that could hinder our goal of preeminence.”

Wagner said that there’s no particular problem with the current academic structure that has been identified; however, there are existing proposals for change that the committee will review. They will also look at other colleges for comparison.

“The idea is to anticipate whether an academic reorganization is even necessary,” said Wagner, adding that the College community must understand that the committee will only study the academic infrastructure, not the organization of the entire College.

The committee, which has met twice, will continue its twice-monthly meetings over the summer, with the intention of making its recommendations toward the end of the fall semester. Watch @Metro for updates and the Web address of the committee’s Web page that will go live on the Academic Affairs site within two weeks.

Charge to the committee
“The College Reorganization Committee is charged with proposing academic organizational structures that would best position Metro State to move forward to achieve its mission and to successfully implement our strategic initiatives. It is not a foregone conclusion that major restructuring of the current three schools (LAS, SPS and Business) is necessary, but any structural problems that can impede progress toward preeminence should be identified and considered. The College Reorganization Committee’s work may include the following: (1) suggesting possible restructuring or realignment to address any problems that may be identified; (2) prioritizing possible solutions that may be proposed; and (3) identifying, , to the extent possible, the College resources required to put in place any proposed solutions.

“The committee's role is advisory. Recommendations produced as described above will be forwarded to the provost and president for discussion with the President's Cabinet and Board of Trustees. The emphasis should be on structural, rather than personnel-related, problems, as procedures and policies already exist to address personnel-related issues. As the committee carries out its charge, every effort should be made to keep the College community informed about its progress. The committee should plan to complete its work by Nov. 1, 2008.”

In addition to Wagner, the committee members are:

• Myron Anderson, Interim Associate to the President for
     Institutional Diversity
• Donald Chang, Associate Professor of Marketing
• John Cochran, Dean of the School of Business
• Virginia Cruz, Associate Professor of Social Work
• Ramon Del Castillo, Chair and Associate Professor of Chicana/o Studies
• Clark Germann, Associate Professor of Technical Communications,
     Vice Chair
• Marilyn Hetzel, Chair of Communication Arts and Science, Professor
     of Speech Communication and Director of Theatre Arts
• Maureen Lancaster, Director of the Center for Individualized Learning
• Steve Leonard, Chair and Professor of History
• Mike Martinez, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice
• Stuart Monroe, Professor of Computer Information Systems
• Ken Phillips, Chair and Assistant Professor of Industrial Design
• Kamran Sahami, Assistant Professor of Physics and Interim
     Co-Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs, Vice Chair
• Johannes Snyman, Assistant Professor of Management
• Ali Thobhani, Director of International Studies
• Tara Tull, Associate Director of the Institute for Women’s Studies
     and Services
• Michael Wray, Associate Professor and Director of Hotel-
     Restaurant Management