UB reorganization draws questions
As details emerge of the University of Bridgeport’s plan to merge 14 schools and programs into three colleges, so too have questions.
Will my program still be there? What about my professor? My dean? Where was the faculty input?
Not everyone is satisfied with the answers, particularly alumni of the College of Public and International Affairs, who first worried their program was being eliminated, then challenged its placement in the new UB College of Arts and Sciences.
“From the outside looking in, it sort of doesn’t make sense,” said Erica Dumas, a 2009 graduate who has gone on to work at the United Nations, World Trade Center, Port Authority and now a private mortgage company. Dumas and others call it odd that the changes were made so abruptly, seemingly with little faculty or student input so as to be in place for the start of the fall semester that starts Aug. 27.
Redirection
UB announced the restructuring on Monday as a way, its creators said, to redirect resources, thin out a top- heavy administrative staff and make the experience more intimate for students.
Instead of 14 deans, there will be three deans, all reporting to Provost Stephen Healey. The change was to take effect immediately.
UB’s 14 schools and programs were clustered into three colleges: Arts and Sciences, Health Sciences and a College of Engineering, Business and Education.
By Wednesday, UB announced the deans of those colleges and a list of the program and majors they will oversee.
Manyul Im, who came to UB from Fairfield University in 2014, is dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. In that college will be the Shintaro Akatsu School of Design, School of Professional Studies, and programs formerly offered in the School of Arts and Science and College of Public and International Affairs that most alum refer to as CPIA.
Carol Papp, founding dean of the 2015 revival of UB’s nursing program in 2015, is dean of the College of Health Sciences. That college includes the Fones School of Dental Hygiene, School of Nursing, College of Chiropractic, Physician Assistant Institute, Nutrition Institute, College of Naturopathic Medicine and the Acupuncture Institute.
Tarek Sobh, at UB since 1995, is dean of the College of Engineering, Business and Education. He also serves as UB’s executive vice president.
Laura Skandera Trombley, who became UB’s new president on July 1, said the reorganization will not only streamline administrative functions, but send talented faculty back to the classroom, where they can better serve students.
Just which senior staff are leaving has not been fully revealed.
“There are some confidential elements to that,” Provost Stephen Healey said on Wednesday, adding, “It’s a modest number.”
In a letter to staff, Healey said the school of design, now under the College of Arts and Sciences, will be looking for a new director. So will the schools of business and education. It is unclear if the deans who were in those roles are staying.
The call for more transparency
In a letter to faculty, Healey emphasized no faculty, programs or majors have been cut.
“The main gain is strategic,” Healey said.
Most students, the provost said, care about professors more than directors or deans.
A number of CPIA alumni beg to differ.
“This change was not clear or transparent,” said Constance Vickers, who graduated from UB’s CPIA in 2011. “It is a huge change and for us to have no details ... I am relying on Dr. Trombley but I have a lot of concerns.”
Vickers and Dumas both say they were taught by experts in the field and are not convinced their program belongs within a College of Arts and Sciences.
Dumas called it an odd pairing, and she worried that future stu- dents wouldn’t get the same rich experience she enjoyed.
“Relationships built through the program were crucial,” she said.”
Thomas Ward, who was dean of CPIA, said the program will continue, just under a new umbrella. He said he will continue to teach and keep the school’s connections with the United Nations. A Center for International Study and Exchange will be created to support study abroad formerly supported by CPIA.
CPIA had 477 students last fall. Healey said UB officials have heard the alumni concerns and are reaching out to them.
“Suffice it to say here that it is a carefully thought- through strategic alignment,” Healey said.
Unit cohesion
Another alignment some have questioned is the grouping of engineering, business and education.
“I’ve not seen that particular combination before, but then I see new things every day,” said Barbara Brittingham, of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
Healy called the pairing deliberate and focused on preparing students for job titles that don’t yet exist.
“For years, faculty of these schools have worked together to pursue grants and explore interdisciplinary elements that connect and advance their curricula,” Healey said.
All three are career- oriented schools that exhibit similar characteristics, aspirations and research initiatives.
Kristin K. McCabe, of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, said education often gets paired with other areas because of its interdisciplinary nature.
Meanwhile, in health sciences at UB, the only changes are titles, since most of the programs must follow professional, licensing and accreditation standards.
David Brady, vice provost of Health Sciences, called melding faculty into a more cohesive unit within each college an advantage.
“So I think it is a good thing,” Brady said. “I am very positive about it.”