Wayne State University’s Board of Governors recently approved the restructuring of the College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs (CULMA), effective Aug. 18, 2005. The plan calls for the dissolution of the college and relocation of its various constituent units to other appropriate units throughout the university.
According to Wayne State University Provost and Senior Vice President Nancy Barrett, the restructuring will have many positive outcomes for both the university and the community. “Locating the labor, urban and metropolitan programs centrally will allow other schools and colleges to participate fully in the university’s labor/urban mission while ensuring that these activities are better aligned with the mission of Wayne State University,” Barrett says.
Considerable budgetary savings also will occur as a result of the plan through the elimination of the dean’s office and the consolidation or elimination of vacant positions. Barrett says, however, that no permanent employees will be terminated as a result of the restructuring and contracts for temporary employees will be honored. In addition, there are no proposed changes in curriculum.
Under the plan, students currently enrolled in their respective academic program, housed within CULMA, will continue their studies uninterrupted; CULMA faculty will return to the colleges offering their disciplines; and all programs, centers and institutes now in CULMA will move intact to other areas of the university.
Students in the Interdisciplinary Studies (IS) program, a program geared to non-traditional students, will continue to receive special advising as IS moves into the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS).
The decision to restructure CULMA followed periodic reviews since the college’s establishment in 1985, and the most recent examination by a nine-member committee launched in June 2004.
The committee consisted of representatives selected by both CULMA faculty and the provost. Data was collected from eight groups using surveys, focus groups, individual interviews and an open forum. In January 2005, recommendations were submitted to the provost stating a general consensus that a major reorganization would benefit the college.
“This plan provides an opportunity to raise the academic quality of Wayne State’s labor/urban academic programs by moving them into a more traditional academic setting, while bringing labor/urban expertise into the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,” Barrett says.
“Overall,” Barrett continues, “the university’s commitment to labor and urban outreach will be strengthened by uniting participation across the university in centers that would be centrally located rather than under the auspices of a single college.”
Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 12 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.