A recent announcement from Provost Dr. Eric Skipper regarding a Fall 2026 academic realignment prompted questions and discussion among faculty at last Wednesday’s Faculty Senate meeting.

Next semester, SLU will have a standalone College of Nursing. The Department of Health and Human Sciences will merge with the College of Education to create the College of Education and Health and Human Sciences. The College of Business will keep the same name, but it will take on the Health Systems Administration and Sports Management programs.

Students and faculty can access a map outlining the upcoming academic realignment here.

Jason Kirker, the Faculty Senate’s recording secretary, said some faculty members across campus were confused about Provost Dr. Eric Skipper’s academic realignment announcement during the Senate’s meeting last Wednesday.

Kirker said people were unsure about the details of the plan, as Skipper’s announcement mentioned only the colleges being realigned. 

“Some people were concerned those were going to be the only colleges on campus now. For better or for worse, that’s not the case,” Kirker said, prompting many in the room to laugh. 

The College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the College of Science and Technology and the College of Honors and Excellence will remain unchanged.

Despite the provost stating several months of “thoughtful discussion” were held with deans, department heads and faculty members, some of the faculty expressed a sense of disconnection and confusion. 

“We as faculty members are not really involved in the discussion about the realignment…it was kind of just told to us, we were surprised by the realignment on a departmental level,” kinesiology and health studies instructor Alice Gibson said.

She said news about the realignment sparked many questions about its purpose, as the Department of Kinesiology and Health Studies was previously in the College of Education before merging with the School of Nursing. 

She also said the realignment will not require the Department of Kinesiology and Health Studies to move. Kinesiology classes will remain in the Kinesiology and Health Studies building, but the College of Education and Health and Human Sciences’ dean will be housed in the Teacher Education Center.

Gibson expressed that she and her department are excited for the realignment and are looking forward to next semester. 

Kirker also spoke briefly about students increasingly wearing Meta Ray-Ban glasses, which can record video and audio. He said the university has a strict no-recording policy in class due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects students’ and their guardians’ right to privacy over students’ educational information.

“There’s a light that turns on at the rim when [the glasses] are recording…Keep an eye out for it, because whether it’s a phone or their glasses or an old-school camcorder, they’re not allowed to record our classes,” Kirker said.

Faculty Senate president Alan Cannon discussed a few of the administration’s 2025 goals intended to “enrich and strengthen faculty and staff support and morale.” The goals were as follows:

• Transition to Workday completed
• 100% employee compliance with annual training
• Transition to Canvas completed
• Increase in endowed chair and professorship support

Although the goals were likely established before President Wainwright took office, Cannon and a few Senate members expressed skepticism that the first three specifically helped increase faculty morale.

“When I met with the president, I brought this, and I said, ‘You’re kidding, right?’ He tried to defend these, and I said ‘I’m sorry,’ it looks like the university…scrambled to find anything that made it sound like faculty support,” Cannon said.

The Faculty Senate’s final two meetings for the 2025-2026 academic year will be at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1 and Wednesday, May 6. All meetings are open to the public. Students who wish to address issues are encouraged to contact a senator from their department regarding the topic on the meeting agenda.

Students can find their departmental senator and meeting dates on the Faculty Senate webpage.