By Brent Harker
The BYU Board of Trustees has approved the first of many recommendations growing out of the university’s self-study.
Academic vice president Alan L. Wilkins recently announced decisions to reorganize the Marriott School of Management and the College of Education, to rename the Department of Music in the College of Fine Arts and Communications, and to phase out the Department of Clothing and Textiles in the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences.
“While many decisions not requiring board approval have already been implemented, these are the first decisions the board has approved,” said Wilkins. “They represent two years of careful self-analysis by departments, colleges, the Self-Study/Strategic Planning Committee, and the administration.”
Wilkins said the Marriott School is modifying its organizational structure, consolidating six departments, some of which were small, into four larger units: the Business Management Department, the Public Management Department, the Organizational Leadership and Strategy Department, and the School of Accountancy and Information Systems.
Board members also approved the renaming of the education college and other changes recommended for the college. The new David O. McKay School of Education will have five departments, as did the old college, but they will be reorganized into the Department of Teacher Education, the Department of Counseling and Special Education, the Department of Audiology and Speech/Language Pathology, the Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations, and the Department of Instructional Psychology and Technology.
In addition, the new school will include a center for improving teacher education, which will work with BYU’s colleges and departments and with the public schools in planning, implementing, and evaluating quality teacher education programs. Also, the Early Childhood/Preschool program will move from the Department of Family Sciences to the School of Education.
Also renamed is the Department of Music, which now becomes the School of Music. “It is one of the 10 largest programs of its kind in the United States and the only one until now not named a school,” said Wilkins. The new school will remain a part of the College of Fine Arts and Communications.
The Department of Clothing and Textiles will be phased out within the next several years, Wilkins said. Students who have declared a major in any of the departmental degrees will be allowed to complete their programs, and faculty members will be reassigned in the university when the department is closed. The department employs six full-time faculty members.
Resources freed up over time will be focused on improving university offerings in home management and women’s advisement, said Wilkins.
