Hi Kristi, LSU does not have one concise policy on this, however, we use guidance from our State coordinating higher ed board and from the ByLaws of our own LSU Board of Supervisors in determining what is and is not a significant organizational shift (Creation of a new department, school, or college would certainly be significant). We are also in SACS and have developed a campus policy on substantive change (LSU Policy Statement 116<http://sites01.lsu.edu/wp/policiesprocedures/policies-procedures/116/>) in order to comply with accerditation requirements.
I recently got a question related to this from one of our deans, and below is some verbiage I used in my response to him: There is not a campus policy statement on this, however, the Louisiana Board of Regents provides some guidelines for development of new degree programs in BoR Academic Affairs Policy 2.05<http://regents.louisiana.gov/academic-affairs/policies-and-procedures/academic-affairs-policy-205/>. We (Academic Affairs) work with units interested in considering the possibility for a restructuring or creation of a new department. These have varying degrees of complexity, ranging from a simple name change of a department to the formation of a new academic college. Whether or not Board approval is needed is based on the significance of the action. The process for a restructuring generally involves faculty buy-in, benchmarking with other institutions, budget analyses, facility analyses, development or org charts, impact (if any) on delivery of a degree program, impact on program accreditation (if applicable), and development of the overall justification for the transition. Let me know if you'd like to chat more about some experiences we have had here with organizational realignments-and we have had many in the past five years! Cheers, Ryan Ryan T. Landry, MS Office of Academic Affairs Louisiana State University 156 Thomas Boyd Hall Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (p)225-578-5561 (f) 225-578-5980 This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Shackelford, Kristi L - shackekl Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2015 6:57 AM To: Association of College and University Policy Administrators Subject: [acupa-l] Policy Request - New Colleges Hi all - I'm looking for examples/advice on policies regarding the establishment of a new school or college. We're in the southern (SACSCOC) region, but feedback from any area would be appreciated. Feel free to reply off-list to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Many thanks - Kristi Kristi Shackelford Assistant Vice Provost JMU Academic Policy and Curriculum Development Sheldon Hall, Room 107 | MSC 7505 Harrisonburg, VA 22807 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> | 540.568.4064
