A discovery phase focused on gathering ideas, feedback, and perspectives to inform the vision for restructuring.

This phase was administratively led with faculty consultation. During this phase, we began to explore restructuring, holding two town hall meetings, distributing surveys, and holding patio chats.  The Dean’s office solicited input via each of these, and then synthesized the feedback received. This feedback now serves as the groundwork for the next phase of planning and decision-making.

A collaborative effort to chart potential combinations of units and develop proposals for new school structures.

For this semester, the overarching question will be: what combination of units will comprise a school? This question will be addressed via a collaborative process.

Steps:

• Beginning in August 2025, the Dean will attend departmental meetings. He will share viable unit pairings that have emerged from soliciting and synthesizing the feedback collected during Phase 1.
• During the meeting the Dean and the faculty will discuss strengths and weaknesses of the possible combinations.
• After the meetings, units interested in forming a new school will establish ad hoc restructuring committees, each including at least one representative from every academic program in the unit. These committees will work through the key questions in consultation with the faculty and staff and develop a collective proposal (2-3 pages) outlining their restructuring recommendations.
• These proposals will be shared with the department and submitted to the Dean by December 1, 2025. The Dean will review these materials and provide feedback or a final decision by February 1, 2026.

A phase dedicated to establishing the identity and structure of the new schools through decisions about naming and structure.

This phase will include both faculty-led and administration-led efforts to ensure that the emerging schools are well-defined and structurally sound. Faculty and staff will focus on naming, while academic leaders will address administrative and reporting structures.

Steps

1. Naming the Schools (Faculty-led)

• • Early in the semester, faculty and staff from each proposed school will select members for a naming committee.
  • The Dean will provide criteria to guide the committee in identifying names that are meaningful, distinctive, and aligned with the college’s mission.
  • Each committee will develop a short list of names, which will be put to a faculty and staff vote.
  • The short list and results of the vote will be submitted to the Dean for review and approval by April 1, 2026.

2. Administrative and Reporting Structures (Administration-led)

• • A committee of PCAL academic leaders will convene in January 2026 to determine administrative structures for the new schools.
  • Key questions will include:
    • What administrative structures will each school adopt?
    • Will these structures be uniform across schools, and if not, what justifies the distinctions?
    • What will the new reporting structure look like?
    • Will Directors report to the Dean in a manner similar to current department chairs?
  • The committee will share a draft proposal for administrative structures with faculty and staff for comment by March 15, 2026.
  • A finalized structure will be submitted to the Dean’s office by May 1, 2026 for approval.
  • The finalized restructuring plan (unit groupings, names, and administrative structures) will be submitted for Provost and Board of Regents approval by June 1, enabling the transition to the hiring and implementation phase in Fall 2026.

A phase focused on finalizing structures, hiring leadership, and preparing operational frameworks for the new schools.

This phase transitions the work from planning to implementation, ensuring that each school has strong leadership and well-defined processes.

Steps:

• Leadership Hiring (collaborative): Conduct searches for new school directors. Job descriptions will be finalized by August 2026, searches launched in September, and appointments completed by December 2026.
• Governance Frameworks (faculty-led): Each new school will develop internal policies, including workload and T&P, with drafts reviewed by faculty and staff by the end of the semester with final approval by the Dean in Spring 2027.
• Administrative Planning (administration-led): Reporting structures, role descriptions, and administrative responsibilities for academic leadership and staff will be finalized by October 15, 2026.
• Resource Allocation (collaborative): Faculty, staff, and administrators will determine shared resources (physical space, staff, etc.) to be finalized by December 1, 2026.

This phase focuses on ensuring all structures, leadership, and resources are aligned for a seamless fall launch.

Steps:

• Transition Planning (administration-led): Finalize operational timelines, leadership onboarding, and administrative processes by March 2027.
• Director(s) will explore in consultation with the Dean additional administrative support (i.e. associate director(s) needed for the school.
• Communication & Branding (collaborative): Develop and approve branding, websites, and communication plans for each school by March 2027. Websites to go live on July 1, 2027.