A strategic realignment of colleges at The University of Toledo will bring closer together faculty and students engaged in similar academic programs for increased collaboration.
The University plans to merge the College of Nursing and College of Health and Human Services into one college focused on health professions and to merge the College of Arts and Letters with the Judith Herb College of Education.
Committees of faculty and staff from the colleges are being formed to work through the logistics of the proposed mergers during the upcoming school year. The goal is for the four colleges to become two colleges by the start of the 2025-26 academic year. Proposals for the new colleges that come forward from the committees will go to the UToledo Board of Trustees for approval.
“We are all aware that higher education institutions across the country need to find creative ways to meet the challenges of today and position themselves for future growth. These mergers are an opportunity for UToledo to combine resources to better support our strategic goals for strengthening student success initiatives and delivering relevant and innovative academic programs,” said Dr. Scott Molitor, interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.
“I look forward to working closely with our faculty and staff during the upcoming year to create these new colleges in ways that enhance the educational opportunities available to our students.”
The College of Health and Human Services has the most students of the four colleges with 1,630 students enrolled in the fall 2023 semester and it will merge with the College of Nursing and its 1,025 students to bring together their healthcare missions into one new health professions college.
There are already significant connections between the two colleges in the areas of clinical experiential learning, health equity, social determinants of health, medical records and data privacy.
UToledo’s updated campus master plan also calls for many of the academic programs in the College of Health and Human Services to move from the University’s Main Campus to the Health Science Campus, where the College of Nursing is located, to take better advantage of the resources available there and improve collaboration opportunities.
“I am excited for the opportunities for our students interested in healthcare careers. We will be able to better align our pre-professional pathways and interprofessional education and clinical experiences to give them more flexibility to pursue any number of careers in the healthcare industry,” said Dr. Mark Merrick, current dean of the College of Health and Human Services who will lead the merged college. Dr. Eileen Walsh will continue to serve as the chief nursing administrator during this period of transition. “We also look forward to increased faculty collaborations to enhance both teaching and research.”
The College of Arts and Letters has 1,350 students and the Herb College of Education has 736 students. These colleges also have a long history of collaboration and shared curriculum, particularly in the areas of art and music education and across the humanities and social sciences, that will be enhanced by bringing them together.
“We are committed to building the university of the 21st century by providing innovative academic programs across the liberal arts and education that provide students with options to pursue their interests and prepare them for success and flexibility in their careers after graduation,” said Dr. Melissa Gregory, current dean of the College of Arts and Letters who will lead the merged college. “This is a great opportunity for dynamic collaboration of our outstanding faculty in both colleges to enhance our exceptional curriculum, field experiences, co-curricular opportunities and advising support.”
