Over the next year, the College of Health and Applied Sciences will be reorganized to form the College of Health and Human Sciences and the College of Aerospace, Computing, Engineering and Design.
“This reorganization positions MSU Denver as ‘the University for Colorado,’” said Provost Alfred W. Tatum, Ph.D. “This move will advance the goals of our 2030 Strategic Plan and make our world-class programs more visible to students, and we anticipate the benefits to ripple out for decades in the form of industry partnerships, expanded research funding, new revenue streams and, most important, enhanced learning opportunities for students.”
Hiring-search progress
The searches for two new deans should be completed within the fall semester. Once appointed, the new deans will fine-tune the vision and mission statements for their respective colleges, and new college names will start to supersede the old moniker. Simultaneously, the work of reorganizing academic departments, establishing support positions to serve each college, changing accounting codes and creating degree plans will unfold.
Catalog changes
The 2023-24 academic catalog, to be released next March, will contain the new colleges and their respective departments and programs. The back-end accounting for the two colleges is on track for completion by July 1, 2023.
“This change means that students will be enrolling in courses and programs in the two new catalogs when fall 2023 enrollment starts in spring 2023,” said Erica Buckland Anderson, director of Curriculum and Catalog. “Ensuring a smooth transition from CHAS to the two new colleges will take many hands and many hours of work, and we are all pulling together to meet this goal.”
Registrar Connie Sanders said she is optimistic that student records in Banner will be updated earlier in 2023 and that DegreeWorks reports reflecting the new college names will arrive in August 2023, shortly before the fall semester begins.
“Although complex, this phased change will benefit everyone in the University community,” said Tatum. “We want this to be a deliberate process. We want to give the new deans the chance to put a stamp on the new departments while still leaving enough room to make sure that everything works to meet college and University needs.”
Commencement inclusion
The new colleges are on track to be represented at the spring 2023 Commencement ceremonies. While students will be organized depending on where their departments are arranged in the new colleges, degrees completed during the 2022-23 academic year will still bear the College of Health and Applied Sciences name.
“While we are excited to debut two new colleges, we still have to honor the catalog as it exists at the start of the 2022-23 academic year,” said Shaun Schafer, Ph.D., associate vice president of Curriculum, Academic Effectiveness and Policy Development. “The fall (2022) and spring (2023) Commencement ceremonies will signal the final uses of the CHAS name before the new colleges become fully realized.”
If you have questions on issues related to this transition, please contact Schafer at [email protected].