Changes to the academic structure for some of the schools and colleges within Marshall University will take effect on July first.
Marshall University Chief of Staff Matt Turner says work is already underway to prepare for those mergers. The goal, he says, is to operate more efficiently while providing additional opportunities to Marshall’s students.
“We’re going to find the opportunities to bring together some programs,” Turner tells MetroNews of the changes.
With the restructuring, the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications will join with the School of Art and Design and the School of Music and Theatre, which are currently part of the College of Fine Arts. The new college has not yet been named.
“The School of Journalism, the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications, is still going to be there. The School of Journalism is still going to be an independent school,” Turner said.
“It’s just that it joins two other schools in the creation of a new college. It’s not being eliminated, by any means, it’s just a different administrative structure to the way it will be reporting.”
Later this year, the College of Education will also expand to include the Graduate School of Education and Professional Development.
Turner says Marshall stands to save a “significant amount of money” with the changes ahead of what will likely be a tight budget year for all of West Virginia.
“In light of what we’re facing and what the state is facing, it’s an absolutely sound fiscal move,” he said.
“But it was a matter of efficiency as well and combining some programs into a new college and eliminating some layers in another college that, I think, are really going to benefit us in the long term.”
You can read more about the personnel changes that will come with the restructuring at www.marshall.edu.
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