Campus-Based Departments Under CT State

February 21, 2023

In the last few weeks, we heard from several faculty after meetings at the campuses related to department structures resulted in misinformation. In these campus meetings, at least 2 deans reported every campus needed to have six departments and six department chairs. That is incorrect.

We worked with our 4Cs leaders across the state and reached out to CT State managers to get clarity. Provost LaPierre-Dreger confirmed our mutual understanding from Impact Bargaining remains:

All campus departments must align with the six schools at CT State. Campuses will have the latitude to constitute their departments in a way that makes sense for each campus. Department structures could change, and large campuses may need more departments (divided under the schools), while small campuses may need fewer (consolidated under the schools). Dividing into more departments is less problematic, while a smaller campus department chair may report to more than one Dean from the Six Schools, and it could become problematic.

For all campuses, the key point is it is permissible to have multiple departments, and thus chairs, within one school, if this is what meets the needs of the campus.

Our members must understand these nuances as they work with the dean at their campus to create departments. We urge all faculty to become familiar with these parameters and participate in the department formation/reconfiguration conversations on your campus. Changes to departmental structures will impact the work of Coordinators, Program Coordinators, and Department Chairs.

Recent discussions between CT State, CEOs, and Deans about Department configurations, chairs and coordinators on campuses was the impetus for the reported misinformation.