College of Nursing and Health | Photo by Jessica Fugett | The Wright State Guardian
The idea of a new health college has been discussed several times at Faculty Senate meetings and Board of Trustees meetings.
There has not been any official communication about this idea, according to Seth Bauguess, director of communications.
Background on the college creation
During the end of 2017 until the spring semester of 2018, a faculty group called the Academic Organization Review Steering Committee worked on and presented a draft proposal for the new health college.
The Academic Organization Review Steering Committee put together ideas for which departments might be included in the new health college and the committee created a very thorough report for a potential new health college, according to Interim Provost Dr. Douglas Leaman.
This past fall, a final proposal was put together by a group of faculty members containing what could be the finalized list of departments grouped together in the new health college. This was presented to the Board of Trustees earlier this month, according to Leaman.
What does this include?
According to Leaman, departments that were suggested to the Board of Trustees for the new health college are as follows:
Nursing, Professional Psychology, Teacher Education, Leadership Studies in Education and Organizations, Human Services, Kinesiology and Health, and Social Work.
“I think that there’s really a lot of value in bringing programs that have similar missions or similar curricular pathways together under one roof, if you will, to allow them to synergize and work together more effectively,” said Leaman. “If you think about it there are a lot of health programs that have similar course work in the early stages or in the first couple of years and having students being advised under a single roof is really helpful to them.
Next semester, more faculty focus groups will be created to work out logistics and program details.
“I believe, and this is something I’ve felt strongly about for a large number of years in my own administrative career, that it provides students with opportunities to move around within the different programs in those first couple years if there are clear pathways developed to do that,” said Leaman.
President Edwards is very interested and excited about this idea, according to Leaman. No statement has been received from Edwards.
