During the last two weeks, the Graduate Council and Faculty Senate have voted on several proposals for new schools. To date, five proposals have been approved by both bodies, and three more have been approved by the Senate and are pending votes in the Council. A few proposals have not been supported, and others are still under consideration.
I am grateful for the thoughtful, constructive discussion and feedback as well as the hard work of our faculty in taking up the review of all of the proposals to date. This is shared governance in action.
What’s next
Here are the schools approved by both bodies:
- School of Computing
- School of Earth Systems and Sustainability
- School of Health Sciences
- School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences
- School of Justice and Public Safety
These schools will move forward to the next step in the process, which is the completion of the proposals for submission to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. We will work informally and collaboratively with faculty and current department and school leaders to begin developing provisional implementation plans so that we will be prepared to move forward smoothly and effectively once final approval for a school is in place.
In the case of proposals that were not approved, we will look at them again closely before determining next steps. And there are still a number of proposals in the pipeline.
Regardless, the provost’s office will continue to work closely with faculty on academic reorganization.
Recent Discussions with Faculty Association
Last week, the Faculty Association announced that it is in joint discussions with the university regarding potential settlement of several grievances filed previously under the collective bargaining agreement’s Article 9. While I will not go into detail about these discussions out of respect for the process, it is important to understand that no settlement agreement has been reached.
We are carefully considering every option, and we are hopeful that we will reach an agreeable resolution. I can say that the discussions with our colleagues in the Association have been cordial and productive.