To the campus community,
I want to thank you for your thoughtful consideration and helpful feedback since President Bodnar and I presented a vision for academic renewal on September 9. Many of you responded to one of the available surveys, talked to your deans or directors, or provided input through your respective governance groups. My team and I had the chance to attend numerous department meetings across the campus to discuss our vision and listen to your questions and concerns. We have reshaped our thinking based on your perspectives, and we are all most grateful for your continued partnership in this vital effort. We write today with an update on where we are in the process.
The four pillars we presented—understand, conserve, build, and heal—remain central to the renewal process. The pillars will not be identified with individual colleges but instead will cut across the University and serve as guideposts to interdisciplinarity and innovation in our curriculum and in research. Based on discussions with many of you and in close collaboration with the Deans, it has become clear that the best way forward for UM’s academic structure is what some have called the “Consolidated Model” because it brings together many of the sciences into a single college. It is now time to make that model work.
The first phase of academic renewal and the implementation of this model involves two broad actions:
- The Franke College of Forestry and Conservation will align with the key recommendations in the Matson Report that was first shared with faculty and staff in FCFC and H&S late last spring. FCFC faculty and leadership will work on the details of that alignment over the next several months.
- Two new colleges will be created, one to be populated by faculty and programs in the humanities and social sciences and the other by faculty and programs in science and mathematics disciplines. In the next several months, the shape of these two colleges, including names and school clusters, will be determined by faculty in those units based on the good ideas already generated.
Both changes will be designed in time to submit a proposal to the Board of Regents for approval in the spring. Structurally, the other colleges will remain as they are for now. This includes the College of Business and the College of Arts and Media.
In a subsequent phase of development, we will create initiatives, driven by faculty and housed in the Provost’s Office, to encourage and support curricular innovation, collaboration across departments and colleges, and the creation of new interdisciplinary programs. This phase of renewal will require a careful allocation of resources with the following actions necessary for success:
- Maximizing online delivery of general education, upper-division courses, and degree programs that are scalable and increase access for new student populations across the state.
- Adopting equitable unit workload plans that ensure all faculty have clear expectations that balance their teaching, research and creative scholarship, and service effort each contract year.
- Discussions with the Deans around creating more equitable course load distribution.
Just as the current design for UM’s academic renewal resulted from an iterative and collaborative process, its implementation depends on all of us working together. The model for moving forward looks somewhat different than what the President and I shared with you on September 9, but it still points clearly to the outcomes we all agree are important – an academic structure that helps us better address the grand challenges of our time and one that encourages faculty collaboration and clearer curricular pathways for students. This is an exciting time to be part of the UM community, and I look forward to our continued work together.
Pardis Mahdavi, Provost and Executive Vice President
This message was sent by the Office of the Provost to all UM faculty, staff, administrators and affiliates.