Merging of RCAH and CAL

Jeitschko began the meeting with a presentation on the possible merger. He decided the presentation to ASMSU was necessary to clear up any confusion or misinformation that students may have heard regarding this, he said, while also wishing to open up discussion to the general assembly.

Jeitschko said the merger would just be an administrative change, creating a new mapping of administrative structure if the two colleges were to merge, while still maintaining the student experience.

Looking at the landscape of higher education, Jeitschko said traditional four-year residency programs are "becoming de-emphasized."

Residency programs like RCAH and others that focus on liberal arts are small by design, with tuition revenue being very important to their sustainability, Jeitschko said.

"If they have a dip in enrollment, that can become very precarious, and we're seeing this already across the landscape," he said.

Preserving a residential four-year education with strong components around arts and humanities is a goal of Jeitschko.

Both RCAH and CAL are centered around this idea, with CAL being a more standard approach and RCAH being a community-based one, Jeitschko said.

"If we can combine the two units to make one stronger unit, we will be able to uncover synergies and symbiotic relationships between the two units that will make it stronger," Jeitschko said. "Right now, it's discoordinated across our space because we have two separate administrative structures. What I'm looking for is a way to strengthen the administrative framework in order to protect exactly what it is that we have right now."

Jeitschko said he believes that one consolidated focus at the university around arts, letters and humanities within a single college can achieve this. Ongoing discussions are addressing potential hurdles when changing the administrative structure. 

"This is not about changing programmatic issues," he said. "It is not about changing the curriculum. It is not about changing the pedagogy."

Jeitschko added that once a stronger structure is in place, changes may ultimately occur to strengthen the programs, though discussions currently surrounding the merger do not include this.

Though there are concerns regarding RCAH being shut down, faculty being removed or courses cut, none of that is on the table, he said. 

RCAH Rep. Abigail Rodriguez expressed concern over RCAH's autonomy being lost in the merger.

"RCAH has its own administrative system, and it is extremely accessible to students," Rodriguez said. "We will be losing that autonomy if we were to merge with the College of Arts and Letters."

In response, Jeitschko said in an ideal setting, the changes currently being discussed are mappings for administrative structures. The goal of these discussions are to identify valuable structures that need to remain in place, identify redundant structures and find out how to make ineffective structures operate more efficiently, he said. 

"The administrative autonomy, you can give that to a school as well, you can give it to a department," he said. "One of the things that I think is really valuable about RCAH is it has a residential college structure, but you can replicate that in a school or department; it doesn't have to be a college."

Jeitschko said he strongly believes a merging of the two colleges would strengthen both, saying RCAH would have improved access to resources and more ease recruiting.

Rodriguez asked how the difference between the missions of RCAH and CAL will be addressed. She said RCAH focuses on aspects of community change and social justice that are not present in CAL’s mission.

Jeitschko said CAL has nine departments all with their own distinct missions around them, with some working closely with RCAH. 

"The departments within CAL are not all identical," he said. "They all have individual identities, and that's important because we also want to have the ability for students to find what is their best match."

A more closely integrated administrative structure would make it easier for those students to move across programs within the college, he said.

Rodriguez also asked about transparency surrounding these discussions, saying many in RCAH were blindsided when they learned of the potential merger. 

"This is very fresh," Jeitschko responded.

He said no decision has been made regarding a merger. The only definite step has been to reach out and discuss why this is happening and how it can be done, he said.

Currently, there is no vote scheduled for the Board of Trustees on this issue. There would ultimately be a vote by the board to authorize a plan, Jeitschko said, but nothing is currently on the agenda to discuss the merger. 

"I might put it on the agenda to make sure that we formally have their acquiescence, not in merging, but in exploring the merger," he said. "But right now, there's no plan for anything in December."

When questions were opened to the public, Dylan Crimmins, an RCAH and psychology freshman, asked if the students will have a voice in the process if the board does end up approving an exploration of the merger.

Jeitschko said yes, adding that students can get involved before and after a board vote.

Katelynn Seltzer, an RCAH and studio arts sophomore, asked if the residential aspect of living in Snyder-Phillips and the scholarship process for RCAH students would change if the merger were to go through. 

Jeitschko said neither would be affected.

Rodriguez later introduced Bill 61-33, which would urge the board to vote no to any proposals to merge RCAH with CAL. 

"There were a lot of contradictions made when the presentation that was given tonight based on the information that was given to us by the interim dean of RCAH," Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez said RCAH students would like to remain autonomous because it allows the college to control its own administration, while also letting students’ degrees retain independent meaning from CAL.

"RCAH has a very distinct mission," she said, adding that remaining autonomous would protect the college's focus on community engagement and social justice.

The bill passed with a voice majority.

Nutritional information in dining halls

ASMSU also voted on Bill 61-29, which was introduced by Alliance for Queer and Ally Students Rep. Jaiden Higgins. The bill would advocate for nutritional information of dining hall food to be displayed via QR codes.

Higgins said the bill is important because it would provide students with an easier way to access nutritional information that could then allow them to make healthier choices. 

The bill passed with a voice majority.