Indiana University of Pennsylvania is getting ready to restructure its academic system, which includes some name changes for its colleges and dropping some low-enrolled programs.
Last Thursday, the IUP Council of Trustees approved submitting to the State System of Higher Education a restructuring plan. The five colleges will remain intact, but the names will change to reflect some departmental shifts. The new names would be the College of the Arts, Humanities, Media and Public Affairs; the College of Education and Human Services for the college of Education and communications; and the College of Health and Human Services will be rebranded the College of Health Sciences. The other two names will remain intact. As far as programs go, seven will be placed on moratorium and are expected to be discontinued, while eight others will continue unmodified. Nine other programs will be modified, and 29 others would be reduced to 17 by combining programs and another three are on pause as they will be redesigned. Students in programs that are paused or discontinued will be allowed to finish the classes in that program.
Executive director of Communications and Media Relations Michelle Fryling said that the changes are a positive for the university and comes on the heels of brainstorming sessions held during the academic year.
She added that this no jobs will be lost due to the changes.
The proposal will be reviewed in the next few weeks by the State System of Higher Education. Those changes will go into effect in July if they are approved by PASSHE.
