UCF launched two new colleges and realigned another, in a move aimed at bringing similar disciplines together to improve collaboration and meet future demands, according to the UCF provost’s website. The changes went into effect July 2, but no new majors or minors were added or eliminated.
The College of Education and Human Performance and College of Health and Public Affairs no longer exist. Instead health related programs were transferred to the new College of Health Professions and Sciences, while community-facing and education programs became the new College of Community Innovation and Education, according to the provost’s office.
Nicholson School of Communication (NSC) became the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, bringing together programs from the original NSC and digital media and film from the School of Visual Arts and Design, UCF Communications Coordinator Anthony Moore said. The new NSC will include: Film and Mass Media, Games and Interactive Media, as well as the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy.
“These new colleges realign academic programs in a more cohesive way, so we think that it will increase collaboration between closely related disciplines in a way that’s good for students and faculty alike,” Moore said in an email.
Last August, then-Provost Dale Whittaker tasked administrators and key faculty/staff members to provide recommendations on aligning programs to better serve students and educators, according to the provost website. Recommendations were made in the field of health care, urban innovation, education, and communication and new media.
“The creation of the UCF Lake Nona Medical Center and a new campus in downtown Orlando presented us two very exciting opportunities to bend the future by reimagining what higher education should look like in the 21st century – and to lead it,” the provost’s office said on their website.
Some of these new programs will move to UCF’s downtown campus when it opens in Fall 2019. Communication and Digital Media programs, from the new NSCM, as well as some programs from the College of Community Innovation and Education will relocate to UCF Downtown in Fall 2019, Moore said.
Programs from the College of Health Professions and Sciences are planned to move to Lake Nona when the new facility is built. But that will not happen until after 2020 as plans are still in ongoing development, Moore said.
“This restructuring aligns our strengths in areas of opportunity and organizational changes that will better position our faculty, staff, and students for the future,” the provost’s office said.
