Board of Trustees Passes School Structure Proposal

By: Andrew Exner

Posted: 2/25/10

In a recent mass e-mail, President Kim Phipps made several announcements to the student body. One of these detailed that Messiah College is restructuring from its current five school model to a four school model, effective Fall 2010.

The departments of Mathematical Sciences, Engineering and the Collaboratory, currently in the School of Mathematics, Engineering and Business, will be combined with the departments in the current School of Health and Natural Sciences. These departments will form a new School of the "Sciences." The Department of Management and Business, currently into the School of Mathematics, Engineering and Business, will join the departments in the current School of Education and Social Sciences. These departments will form a new School of the "Social Sciences." The final names of the two schools referred to as the 'Sciences' and the 'Social Sciences' will be determined this spring.

Although this is a significant change, students probably will not recognize immediate changes in day-to-day academic life. The administration and faculty are committed to making sure that the transition from five academic deans and schools to four will be as smooth as possible. "When you develop the four school model," says Provost Randall Basinger, "you want to make sure that the mission is advanced."

Basinger led the task force in a mandate to review the school structure. The five school structure is actually a fairly recent development in school history, introduced by former President Sawatsky. "Messiah restructured in, I think it was 2000, from 13 academic departments to five schools and 21 or 22 departments," says Basinger. Phipps was Provost at that time.

"We had hoped to review [the structure] in year five, but some other things took precedence," says Phipps, who later explained that reducing student tuition increases (from 5-6% to 3-4%) was a larger priority.

Dean Ray Norman says that the MEB School has often seemed an anomaly to people, both in and out of the school. "At a cursory glance, math, engineering, and business are kind of odd bedfellows." Norman continues, "when the college decided to form five schools, those three departments actually requested to be together."

Over the last few years, the departments have learned to work together as one entity, and formed the Collaboratory to further their efforts and commitment to service.

Both Phipps and Basinger are committed to the Collaboratory, so students have no need to worry about its disappearance. "We've tried to make sure that we preserve the strength of the Collaboratory; that is really one of our finest programs on campus," says Phipps.

Deborah Tepley, Manager of the Collaboratory, says that "this next year we will sort of be figuring out our way in this new school." Understanding that the program will move from three academic departments to seven, Tepley looks to the restructuring with great optimism. "It's an exciting time and there are a lot of opportunities."

According to Department Chair Angela Hare, the Mathematical Sciences Department will be renamed Information and Mathematical Sciences, and the Business Information Systems major will formally move to the IMS department. Although there will not be any major changes in the department, Hare recognizes that there will be challenges.

"Implementing change smoothly and wisely in the midst of continuing regular educational activities can be like trying to tie your shoe while still running," says Hare. "It takes extra energy and coordination, and it's possible to trip!" Hare is optimistic about the changes, however, citing the possibilities of new interdisciplinary courses as a result of the merger.

The Engineering department is already implementing interdisciplinary approaches which could benefit from the merger. The department introduced new concentrations in Environmental and Biomedical engineering this year that have requirements in the School of Health and Natural Sciences. Department Chair Randall Fish says he has "reason to believe that this will be easier to coordinate now that we will all be under the same dean."

Michael Zigarelli, Chair of the Business Department, recognizes that though the overall structure is changing, it will remain business as usual. "We're still in the same classrooms as we were before, teaching the same solid curriculum to the same great students," says Zigarelli.

At the same time, Zigarelli acknowledges that the change was not met with universal support. Opposition to the change was voiced from several corners of campus, which is why the process took as long as it did. "The senior leadership here is so inclusive in the way they make decisions," says Zigarelli. "They like to have consensus, and they certainly like to make sure that everybody has a voice."

"Some individuals never really were totally supportive of any school structure," says Provost Basinger, citing opinions from the early 2000s when the original change was implemented.

Gerald Hess, Interim Dean of the School of Health and Natural Sciences, "thought from the start that four schools would be adequate." Hess recognizes the value of the school system and is supporting the four school system, although he says that "most colleges like Messiah College only have two or three schools."

Some faculty supported a move to three schools to save even more money, which would have combined the School of Humanities and the School of the Arts. However, with the new Worship and Performing Arts building project underway and the two new graduate programs housed within the School of the Arts, Phipps wants to keep the structure of the school in place. "In order for us to meet our educational objectives for the arts, that Dean has to be highly involved with arts organizations in the community," which has been true of Dean Roberson.

"As someone who spends a fair amount of time consulting and teaching strategy," Zigarelli says, "I think that retaining a separate School of the Arts is a wise move."