As a follow up to the Securing Our Future transformative recommendation on college and restructuring, Acting Provost Sarah Feldner has announced an extended process for campus input and discussion around these efforts.
In its report, the Securing Our Future committee called for the university to “reduce the complexity of its academic offerings and maximize operational efficiencies by reimagining the university’s colleges and their departmental structures.” Under that recommendation, the Executive Leadership Team has charged campus with seeking ways to better develop and align Marquette’s curricula with our students’ goals, allocate resources to maximize their impact, create savings, and create new opportunities for meaningful educational experiences and faculty research and scholarship.
Acting Provost Feldner and Dr. Paul Gasser, associate professor of biomedical sciences and chair of University Academic Senate, will co-lead a broad and inclusive process to gather context and ideas from the campus community. Gasser shared an initial process at the Aug. 25 UAS meeting — that process has been refined and the timeline extended based on input from UAS senators.
“The announced process will draw from past campus experiences that emphasized a deliberative process that allows campus to come together and have conversations when the subject matter is challenging,” Acting Provost Feldner said. “The framework for this initiative is for campus partners to ground themselves in the student, faculty, and staff perspectives and imagine how campus can improve, while being pragmatic and open about unintended consequences or potential challenges.”
Invitation to imagine new possibilities
All faculty and academic staff who work within a college structure are invited to participate in one of the sessions below. These sessions will take varied formats to meet participants where they are and offer different modes to enter the conversation.
“No matter which session faculty and staff attend, the invitation is to become curious about what college structures enable for our collective work, and how they provide pathways for enhanced learning and research opportunities for our students, faculty and staff,” Acting Provost Feldner added.
College-department reorganization ideation sessions start Friday, Sept. 19.
Faculty and academic staff who work within a college or school at Marquette are invited to participate in one of seven ideation sessions scheduled between Friday, Sept. 19, and Friday, Oct. 3.
This is the first step in a series of sessions regarding college-department reorganization taking place this fall. More and larger sessions will be scheduled to provide feedback on models, which will be introduced in October.
Sign up here or on the Office of the Provost website.
Updated timeline
Based on feedback from UAS, here is the adjusted timeline for this Securing Our Future transformative initiative:
- Mid-September/Mid-October 2025: Gather input from faculty and staff via multiple reimagination sessions in various formats (i.e., innovation workshops, Ignatian conversations, narrative/storytelling); synthesize results
- Late-October 2025: Share three to four potential models for college reorganization with the campus community for their input
- November 2025: Synthesize campus input on proposed models; the acting provost will consult with other campus leaders and incorporate campus feedback into the models and narrow to one recommended option
- December 2025: The acting provost will provide an informed recommendation to the president on which model to move forward and the necessary shared governance processes
- Spring 2026: The proposed model is reviewed and considered by shared governance bodies, including but not limited to: University Academic Senate, Faculty Council, University Board of Undergraduate Studies, University Board of Graduate Studies, and the Committee on Research
- Late April 2026: Recommendation made to the Board of Trustees on a revised academic structure
- Summer 2026 – fall 2027: Phased implementation of new model
