Provost moves forward with CAS restructuring

This February, Provost Joel Johnson revealed a plan to appoint the College of Arts and Sciences’ (CAS) first dean and restructure its leadership. If approved by President Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, changes will take effect in fall 2025.

The restructuring is part of Augustana’s transition from a college to a university, which began in 2015. CAS is the only major academic unit without a dedicated dean, a gap this proposal seeks to address. This change also aims to relieve some of the administrative burden on the provost, who currently oversees all colleges and schools without a sole intermediary for CAS.

Currently, the CAS is managed by three rotating division chairs representing humanities, natural sciences and social sciences; these division chairs oversee 17 department chairs.

In addition to teaching classes, department chairs are responsible for many administrative tasks. To balance the additional workload, department chairs receive course releases, meaning they teach fewer classes.

The proposal replaces division chairs with a permanent CAS dean, supported by five area chairs who oversee clusters of departments. This model shifts some administrative duties like budgeting and scheduling to area chairs, reducing department chair course releases. Johnson clarified that while automatic course releases for all department chairs will be removed, a pool of course releases will be available for areas of greatest need during the transition, reducing disruption to faculty workload.

According to Johnson’s proposal, a CAS dean would advocate for the college, coordinate administration, oversee faculty development and contribute to university-wide planning with the goal of offering stability and long-term strategic direction. The dean would also be responsible for managing budgets, staffing plans, and overseeing interdisciplinary initiatives.

The plan also introduces five area chairs, each overseeing 15-20 faculty across multiple departments. These area chairs will be responsible for budget management, course scheduling, and other administrative tasks currently handled by department chairs. Johnson argues that consolidating these duties will create a more efficient leadership structure.

Paul Egland, the faculty president and biology professor, worked with Johnson on developing early drafts of the plan.

“Now, we’re getting to the point where we have more of a symmetrical structure across all of the faculty and all the programs, with the Provost being the leader of the whole academic enterprise,” Egland said.

On Thursday, Feb. 13, department chairs and program directors voiced their concerns about Johnson’s proposal in a meeting. Johnson presented two options: one involved hiring a dean and implementing five area chairs, while the other proposed hiring a dean and allowing the dean to determine further restructuring in the fall.

Just over a week after the initial discussion, on Friday, Feb. 21, Johnson confirmed that the administration would proceed with hiring a dean and implementing five area chairs.

This decision frustrated some department chairs who felt their concerns were overlooked.

“I didn’t hear one person in the affiliation meetings or the department chair meeting speak in favor of this model and all of a sudden, some of us as chairs were informed on Friday morning after the Provost Council meeting that it was a done deal,” William Swart, chair of the sociology department, said. Swart also warned that low faculty morale from this decision could affect teaching.

Some faculty members remain skeptical, fearing the changes will add to their workload rather than ease it.

“I think most of the department chairs were in agreement that we would not like an area chair,” Patrick Hicks, chair of the English and Journalism department, said. He added that most department chairs felt area chairs wouldn’t reduce their workload but might actually increase them as they would need to explain their work to the area chair.

Swart echoed similar concerns, noting that area chairs will handle budgets and course scheduling but not departmental tasks like faculty evaluations and tenure recommendations.

“The only thing area chairs are being charged with currently is budget and course scheduling,” Swart said. “Budget’s about 0.2% of what I do, and course scheduling is not significant.”

Swart also expressed the significance of losing course releases.

“Engaging in that kind of additional labor without a course release, really, to me, represents a pay cut,” Swart said. “Now you have area chairs and a dean who are going to get compensated for that labor without actually doing it — it’s going to continue to be done by departments, they’re just not going to receive any compensation.”

Swart also warned that the loss of course releases and increased administrative burdens on faculty could negatively impact students, as professors may have less time for mentorship and curriculum development.

Despite these concerns, Johnson stressed that the plan is not a cost-cutting measure but a net investment in CAS. While some resources will be shifted, the plan aims to create a more effective and sustainable administration. 

“I know it’s frustrating to some who would have liked a different outcome, and really, we all just have to keep working together on making sure that that transition leads to something successful,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, we’re here to to provide a high quality education and that’s our test.”