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Stephens College reorganizes academic departments

Sergio Goncalves
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Stephens College is reorganizing, in a move that won’t cost more money, but will shuffle departments and faculty.

By Fred Katz

Stephens College is adding three more schools to the two it already has. Stephens already has a school of performing arts and a school of design and fashion. It will add a school of organizational leadership and strategic communications, a school of humanities and sciences, and a school of interdisciplinary studies. Stephens College Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs Nancy Cornwell says every student will now be within a larger school.

“We would have a student in English, in our English and creative writing program. They were in an English department, but they were just kind of out there. But our fashion students were part of the school of design and fashion. And so there was this kind of community built around that school.”

Cornwell says all students will now be able to experience that community. She also says that this won’t at all affect the school’s expenses.

“We have created now five deans where we used to have two. But what we aren’t going to continue with now that, what used to be departments and so forth kind of scattered around, once they’re gathered up under schools, we’re not going to have a department structure anymore.”

Cornwell says current department heads will either go back to just being full-time faculty or possibly be hired as a new dean. The new structure will take over in August, at the start of the new school year.