Excerpt from the Wright State Guardian
College of Liberal Arts (COLA) staff and faculty convened to discuss the reorganization of the college.
Under the instruction of outgoing COLA Dean Linda Caron, the 19-member board assembled for the fall semester of 2021 to discuss ways to reorganize the college. All proposed changes use the college’s existing staff, faculty and resources.
According to Daniel Zehringer, chair of the School of Music and representative on the committee, retrenchment, voluntary separation and retirements in spring 2021, coupled with declining enrollment numbers, caused the need for a reorganization committee.
While the committee is not the final decision maker in the reorganization, they discuss plans to better restructure the college.
Some of the plans discussed include creating new certificate programs, creating new majors and minors, and increasing interdisciplinary among the existing programs, according to Zehringer.
Zehringer also expressed that some programs can be combined, such as the School of Music, the Department of Art and Art History and the Department of Theater, Dance and Motion Pictures.
Laura Luehrmann, a political science professor and member of committee leadership, added that the School of International and Public Affairs (SPIA) and the Department of Modern Languages also have combination potential.
