IUP has announced a restructuring of its six academic colleges and academic programs and creating areas of focus, part of an ongoing plan designed to create a stronger, more student-centered university. IUP President Dr. Michael Driscoll said that they have been calling it IUP NextGen.
As part of planning for IUP NextGen, Driscoll announced that IUP’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Fine Arts will be combined into a college focused on the creative arts, humanities , and design.
Other plans for restructuring of the academic colleges and programs are not yet finalized, but within this work, some programs and academic departments will be merged, discontinued, and/or placed into moratorium; some academic departments may also be moved among colleges. Changes would take effect in fall 2021. The university stressed that any students that were enrolled in any classes that are discontinued will continue to be taught that class until they graduate.
In August, IUP notified its faculty union leadership furloughs were possible, following the APSCUF union contract requirements. Any faculty workforce decisions will be in response to these strategic plans for IUP’s future. Since 2014, IUP has reduced its faculty workforce by more than 150 positions, mostly through attrition.
