Regents approve NAU academic restructuring

Deadline extended for input
on system redesign
The Arizona Board of Regents extended the deadline to August 1 for alternative proposals to the proposed redesign of Arizona's university system.

The Northern Arizona Task Force on Higher Education will accept input on its proposed plan until 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 30. An outline of the plan will be presented at a campus and community forum beginning at 2 p.m. Friday, June 25, in Ashurst Auditorium.

Send comments to HigherEd@nau.edu.

The Arizona Board of Regents today unanimously approved a plan to restructure NAU's academic areas.

"This is the beginning of change on the NAU campus," NAU President John Haeger said. "NAU is a university and no longer a collection of isolated units."

The vote came after Regent Ernest Calderón was assured by Haeger that academic restructuring would not affect any program's accreditation.

"The accrediting bodies are interested in the quality of programs and not in administrative structure," Haeger said.

Provost Liz Grobsmith added, "This was an amazing process at breakneck speed that was inclusive."

The restructuring will condense the number of colleges from 10 to six. It also will assign NAU's research centers and institutes to the college that most closely reflects their missions.

The new academic structure includes the following colleges:

  • Engineering and Natural Sciences: will comprise programs from the former College of Engineering and the science programs from the former College of Arts and Sciences. Laura Huenneke will be dean.

  • Arts and Letters: is made up of the former College of Fine Arts and the remainder of the College of Arts and Sciences. Susan Fitzmaurice will be dean.

  • Consortium of Professional Schools and Colleges: Hotel and Restaurant Management, Health Professions, and Forestry make up this unit, unique in Arizona. David Patton will be dean.

  • College of Social and Behavioral Sciences: will include the School of Communication and the Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation as well as the other SBS programs. Kathryn Cruz-Uribe remains dean.

  • College of Education: remains unchanged with Daniel Kain as dean.

  • College of Business Administration: also remains unchanged. Mason Gerety is dean.

"The plan will have no negative effect on students. All of our programs remain intact," Haeger said in a recent message to the campus. "The new structure allows NAU to be more efficient in its operation. It will allow us to keep professors in the classroom; it will allow us to keep our classes small."

The alignment of the centers and institutes is expected to strengthen research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students by integrating teaching and research missions within each college.

Another benefit of restructuring is the money savings. NAU has calculated that it will save about $400,000 from the direct return of deans' salaries and associated administrators. Additionally, NAU is expecting a $1 million annual savings in about four years.

"The Faculty Senate voted to accept the reorganization," said Larry Mohrweis, president of the Faculty Senate, adding jokingly, "It's sort of amazing that the Faculty Senate and the administration are on the same path. It's kind of scary."

A blue ribbon task force made up of faculty leaders from across campus began studying the feasibility of academic restructuring in November. The group presented two plans to the president in the spring.

Haeger presented a modification of the plans to the regents for their approval.

Details on the plan can be found at www.nau.edu/reorg.