It’s no shock to students that Anderson University has undergone many recent changes. Alongside the chapel changes that have been implemented this year, departmental changes have also left students wondering if it was the right move for the growth of the campus community. The departments are now categorized as follows: Department of Humanities, Department of Computer Science and Mathematics, Department of Natural Sciences, Department of Psychology, Department of Social Sciences, and The School of Music and Performing Arts.
The department changes are a direct result of majors being cut or relocated in order to be closer to the other departments. These changes have been in effect since the start of the semester and have shifted how one navigates the campus. Throughout all of this, there is one question remaining: Are these changes able to encourage the campus to grow alongside the students?
Ozzy Tharp, a sophomore musical theatre major (one of the majors impacted) said in regards to these changes, “It was a lot to take in at first. Having transferred from another university just last year, I had grown accustomed to the stability of the SMPA (formally known as the SMTD) and I wasn’t exactly sure how to feel when it felt like everything was changing, but we have a very dedicated faculty who are committed to ensuring that our program not only remains but thrives, and already we are seeing that passion in our performance rehearsals and our classes.”
With the many department changes also comes staff reassignment. Deborah Miller Fox, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences mentioned this change by saying the following: “In order to concentrate our campus footprint and to energize the campus, we combined several academic units to create new departments over the summer.”
Academics aside, this is a personal change for Miller Fox as well. There is a change in the way in which the leadership is separated now within the university. This means that even though her roles did not change, the composition of the college did. She believes that this was a very necessary and purposeful change–one that creates a stronger student experience and fosters greater faculty cooperation. It is the change that was needed to help us grow not just as Anderson University now, but for the growth and “optimism of the future.”
Another professor on campus, Scott Kennedy, chair of the Department of Engineering, offered his insight into these changes as well.
Kennedy has been working at Anderson University since 2005 when the university did not have an engineering program. “In 2011… I took sabbatical and earned my MBA from AU’s Falls School of Business… my class projects followed a common theme. By the end of my MBA, I had convinced my colleagues in the Department of Chemistry and Physics (that was the department at that time) that we should start engineering and my MBA projects served as the basis for the proposal we submitted to the faculty.”
During the 2012-2013 academic year, the proposal was approved. Kennedy went on by explaining that the university had hoped “adding engineering would boost enrollment numbers overall, and especially enrollments in Chemistry and Physics.”
“I do think it is a shame that our engineering students will no longer have a chance to build relationships in their foundational CHEM, MATH, and PHYS classes with classmates who might go on to become chemists or physicists,” he expressed when asked if these changes would allow for students to connect with one another more. In terms of Anderson University’s growth he expanded by stating that if AU grows in the STEM areas, it will be in spite of the decision to cut the chemistry and physics programs, not because of those decisions.