Summary of University Academic Reorganization: "Seeds of Innovation"
Community Update, September 28, 2021
Approval of Modified Seeds of Innovation Proposal
Draft Proposal, April 23, 2021
Seeds of Innovation: Collaborative Structures for Sustainability and Academic Distinction
The recommendations from the University Structure Committee imagine a new configuration of colleges intentionally designed to advance the Strategic Plan, fulfill the Academic Vision, prioritize the quality and distinction of academic programs, and respond proactively to patterns of change in higher education and society.
Contents
1.1 Merging the College of Nursing and the School of Health and Medical Sciences
1.2 Merging the College of Education and Human Services and the College of Communication
and the Arts
1.3 College of Arts and Sciences Reorganization
1.4 Setting Clear Goals for the School of Diplomacy and International Relations
2. Interdisciplinary Academies and Themes
3. Summary of Savings and Investments
4. Conclusions
1. Executive Summary
The University is implementing a new Strategic Plan, Harvest Our Treasures. Seton Hall has established multiple University Committees to realize the objectives of this plan and the new Academic Vision by recommending and instituting changes to the University's culture, investments, and structure. This University Structure Committee (USC) was established to recommend changes to renew the University's organizational structure.
The recommendations from the USC imagine a new configuration of colleges intentionally designed to advance the Strategic Plan, fulfill the Academic Vision, prioritize the quality and distinction of academic programs, and respond proactively to patterns of change in higher education and society.
The primary outcomes of restructuring should reflect its critical purpose: greater academic quality and distinction as advocated in the Academic Vision. While embracing change and innovation, the recommendations nevertheless aim to promote the signature traditions and culture of Seton Hall and to optimize existing faculty and resources. The overriding goal is to improve academic quality by consolidating strengths and creating strategic collaborations. In support of that goal, Seton Hall should reinvest the savings realized by restructuring the schools and colleges into improving academic programs. Such reinvestment should include establishing additional tenure-track faculty lines to strengthen existing programs and support new programs, increasing support for faculty scholarship and research, and rewarding faculty achievements.
After evaluating the effectiveness, efficiency, and strategic logic of the existing configuration of schools and colleges within the University, the USC is proposing structural changes that seek to maximize the University's educational, scholarly, and reputational return on expenditure and allow the Strategic Plan to be fully implemented across the campuses. Members of the USC discussed and evaluated the proposed changes relative to many different alternatives for each academic unit and in comparison to other institutions; they gave due consideration to faculty expertise, trends in research and enrollment, disciplinary synergies, balancing investments in the hallmarks of a Seton Hall education with the need to adapt, and relevant metrics, including ratios of faculty and students to administrators.
First and foremost, the proposed changes are intended to strengthen the quality and enhance the distinction of Seton Hall's academic programs, further the institution's academic mission, and advance the goals of the Strategic Plan. Fulfilling those purposes requires investments and reallocations of faculty, administration, and other resources. The strategic redeployment of savings realized through reorganization back into the University's mission is paramount. Keeping those principles at the forefront of our discussions, the USC recommends the following changes:
1.1 Merging the College of Nursing and the School of Health and Medical Sciences
The University Structure Committee recommends merging the College of Nursing and the School of Health and Medical Sciences into one integrated College of Nursing and Health Sciences that promotes the practice of interprofessional health education. Uniting these units aims to promote more interdisciplinary scholarship and education and to foster more caring, collaborative, and effective healthcare, all with greater administrative efficiency.
1.2 Merging the College of Education and Human Services and the College of Communication and the Arts
The University Structure Committee recommends merging the College of Communication and the Arts and the College of Education and Human Services into one innovative College of Education, Communication Arts and Human Development that integrates digital and visual media and design, performing arts, strategic communication, education, and human services as interrelated, mutually-reinforcing efforts focused on developing students into lifelong learners and engaged citizens.
1.3 College of Arts and Sciences Reorganization
The University Structure Committee recommends creating three divisions within the College of Arts and Sciences, each with a designated academic associate dean: (1) Division of the Humanities; (2) Division of Social Sciences; and (3) Division of Natural and Computational Sciences. These three divisions are typical of structures in place at many universities and correspond to traditional methodological affinities among fields. In addition to supporting the initiatives of their own division, each associate dean will be responsible and accountable for advancing specific goals in the Strategic Plan: promoting and integrating the liberal arts across the University; expanding and improving experiential and service-learning opportunities; increasing external grant funding.
1.4 Setting Clear Goals for the School of Diplomacy and International Relations
The University Structure Committee recommends that Diplomacy be given a fixed period of time to accomplish a set of growth goals. Those goals center on:
- Enrollment
- Responsibility Center Management (RCM)
- Fundraising
- External Recognition of Excellence
- New Program Pipelines
2. Interdisciplinary Academies and Themes
The Strategic Plan and the Academic Vision alike aspire to promote learning that addresses problems and studies subjects from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives. To this end, the University Structure Committee recommends the creation of a set of "Interdisciplinary Academies": flexible centers that incentivize and facilitate innovative and collaborative research, scholarship, coursework, and knowledge dissemination. These flexible Academies provide a nimble framework for the University to sustain market-responsive, timely, collaborative clusters of courses and researchers.
Many institutions have interdisciplinary centers such as those we imagine that bring together scholars from across a university to address specific timely or mission-related challenges. The work of the units will vary based on the topics they address, but it will be interdisciplinary and inclusive and may include faculty seminars, research teams, and other projects that advance scholarship and collaboration across the University. We propose to call our units "Academies," not only to distinguish them from existing "centers" at Seton Hall but also to channel the historical energy of Plato's Academy.
Ideally, these Academies will enable the University to be a place where more science majors take classes in the arts, more education majors take classes in economics, more English majors take classes in marketing, more diplomacy majors take classes in psychology, and so on. An Academy system could curate clusters of related courses from different disciplines for students to learn to apply a wide variety of approaches to their work and to common problems.
3. Summary of Savings and Investments
The University undertook a non-random Reduction-in-Force (RIF) of administrators and staff in the Spring and Summer of 2020 in response to the economic challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. This resulted in far less overlap in administrative and staff positions between schools and colleges; the University Structure Committee studied these changes.
Together, the four proposals from this Committee are projected to realize annual savings of approximately one million dollars, which allows for a substantial reinvestment in the University's mission. The changes may involve one-time costs for the rebranding of each of these newly formed schools and making necessary hires.
Finally, the University Structure Committee envisions the creation of interdisciplinary Academies as described in section 2 of this plan. These Academies will require program leadership from existing or new faculty and will need to put in place mechanisms for faculty fellows who will be dedicated/selected to work on specific research, curriculum development, and experiential learning connected to their themes. Resources will need to be prioritized for these interdisciplinary initiatives.
4. Conclusions
Without recommending any reductions in full-time faculty or the closure of any programs, the proposals in this plan potentially free up $1 million annually, which will be earmarked to reinvest in academic quality – in faculty lines to support existing and new programs, in research, in experiential and service-learning initiatives, and other strategic improvements. Additionally, new auxiliary services revenue, new growth programs, and new endowments will further increase investments in academic quality and student success outcomes to support Seton Hall's long-term nimbleness and sustainability. The proposals herein also reconfigure the colleges at the University in ways that aim to promote innovation and distinction, greater interdisciplinary collaboration, and more efficient interaction between units. The Committee believes these proposed reconfigurations will substantively improve the University.
Seeds of Innovation does not recommend any administrative consolidation for the Stillman School of Business, the Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, or the School of Law. However, each of these Schools will benefit by engaging in potential cross disciplinary opportunities identified through this restructure.