The Academic Structure Task Force held its town hall meeting on Thursday, Oct. 26 to plan the future of academics for ETSU. This meeting discussed changes and plans for which the Task Force is working hard.

The Academic Structure Task Force is a committee that helps advance and explore ways to better student education. Co-chairs, Dr. Nick Hagemeier and Virginia Foley, alongside the Task Force, have been trying to find ways to ensure that students can complete these courses and earn their degrees.

(Contributed/southernliving.com)

“The Academic Structure Task force was charged with developing a proposal to examine the academic structure of our colleges and ensure we continue to create clear and seamless pathways toward degree completion, provide holistic support for our students, and align with the goals in our strategic plan,” stated the Task Force. 

Colleges and degree routes will stay the same for now, but there is a chance that academic departments transfer to different colleges and that some colleges may be formed. Changes for students will not be implemented in this school year, but after meeting with different students and groups, the feedback is heard and change is on the way.

There have been more than 50 listening sessions, which have consisted of studying structure plans from different universities and producing models that can improve student education. Hagemeier and Foley plan to meet with President Brian Noland and Provost Kimberly McCorkle by the end of the semester to propose these models. Their mission is to change the way students learn and stay student-focused.

“Our goal is to propose models for the president and provost to consider that positively impact students.  Challenging the status quo can be uncomfortable, but our hope is that in doing so we affirm what we have optimized and tweak things that need to be changed so the university can better meet its mission,” said the Task Force.

The Academic Structure Task Force is open and interested in listening to students and their concerns. If you’d like to speak or schedule a meeting, email foleyv@etsu.edu and hagemeier@etsu.edu.