Dear CEHS and CPASS students, staff, faculty and alumni,
We have exciting news to share with you.
As previously announced on May 19, West Virginia University will combine the College of Education and Human Services and the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences to create a new college focused on helping people live healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives. The reorganization is part of the University’s efforts on academic transformation, which began with President Gee’s charge in December 2020.
This morning during a WVU Board of Governors committee meeting, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Maryanne Reed announced the name of our new college. Moving forward, we will be known as the College of Applied Human Sciences.
Board members are expected to affirm the name during today’s WVU Board of Governors regular meeting.
The new college will launch July 1, 2022 and be comprised of three schools – the School of Education, the School of Counseling and Well-being and the School of Sport Sciences.
The three schools will build on the skills and knowledge of both colleges to establish a dynamic and forward-thinking academic unit. The School of Education will develop future educators across a broad range of settings from pre-K through higher education. The School of Counseling and Well-being will equip students with expertise in areas of mental health counseling, wellness, family support services and child and youth development, while the School of Sport Sciences will prepare students for careers in coaching and teaching, performance psychology and the sport industry.
To inform the naming process, benchmarking was conducted to review the names of similar units at peer institutions. From this benchmarking, a list of potential names was created with the goal of finding the name that would best represent the variety of disciplines in the new college and be relevant to prospective students and employers. Faculty, staff, students and key alumni were engaged in the process of selecting the new name for the college, which was ultimately approved by senior leadership.
Meanwhile, several working groups have been established in key areas to review data, identify best practices and provide additional recommendations to leadership regarding structure, policies and procedures for the new college. These working groups are focused on issues such as administrative and student support services, academic affairs, promotion and tenure guidelines and practices, community outreach, alumni relations, and diversity, equity and inclusion. The groups began collaborating this summer and will continue to meet throughout the academic year.
Additionally, a national search will begin this fall to identify the founding dean of the College of Applied Human Sciences. The University has hired Greenwood/Asher and Associates, a national search firm to direct efforts to identify qualified candidates. Internal searches for additional college leadership positions will occur in the 2022 spring semester.
Alumni of both colleges should note that their academic records will not change and will identify CEHS/CPASS as the college from which they graduated. Once the new college has launched, alumni may choose to update their resumes with an addendum indicating the new name of the college. Students currently enrolled in either college will not see their degree programs affected by the merger.
We’ve created a website to provide updates and announcements about the creation of the new college. We encourage you to visit the website through the New College portion of the academic transformation webpage. We will share more information as the process continues. We encourage you to view the Provost’s Office academic transformation website for more details about the University’s focus on academic transformation.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have specific questions related to the merger.
Thank you,
Tracy Morris, Dean, College of Education and Human Services Jack Watson, Dean, College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences