College of Arts & Sciences Steering Committee

ArtSci Strategic Plan

About the ArtSci Steering Committee

Grounded in shared governance and broad representation, the ArtSci Steering Committee was the representative body that guided the creation of a strategic vision for the new College of Arts and Sciences in the 2025-26 academic year. This committee played a pivotal role in helping to shape the College’s future. 

The committee’s work included:

  • Identifying existing strengths within the new college
  • Recognizing challenges and pain points in the transition
  • Recommending actionable steps to support strategic planning
  • Ensuring robust participation from the ArtSci community throughout the year

Events and Activities Conducted

Town Halls
Town Halls were offered in October in person and virtually to collect faculty, staff, student, and community perspectives early in our College’s existence. This data helped inform early decisions and guide important initiatives.

Focus Groups
Smaller focus groups for students, faculty, and staff were conducted late in the fall to further drill down on specific topics and help guide the spring semester.

Survey
In Spring 2026, the committee drafted and collected climate survey responses that gauged perspectives on teaching, research/creative work, staff roles, and student experiences.

Aligning Together

A thriving college relies upon the active and thoughtful participation of its faculty, staff, learners, and larger community. The College is grateful to the ArtSci Steering Committee for their work over our first year. Importantly, their data has been intentionally embedded in the ArtSci Strategic Plan, which reflects the collective values, mission, and goals of our college community.

What follows is an overview of how the Steering Committee’s feedback is already showing up in our work and where we are excited to keep building together. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of all ways that our work is aligned and how the Steering Committee’s feedback has guided us, but rather represents some key highlights.

Aligning Together: Response to the Steering Committee

Communication & Transparency

Steering Committee said: Participants called for clearer, more targeted, accessible information on college structure, decisions, resources, and opportunities to get involved.

How we’re aligning:

  • Regular college-wide communications through ArtSci Events and Inside ArtSci
  • More consistent sharing of targeted opportunities and key updates
  • Exploring a quarterly Dean's newsletter

Shared College Identity & Community

Steering Committee said: The community expressed desire for intentional community across departments, disciplines, roles, and campuses, and highlighted the value of regular, informal gatherings that bring the full breadth of the college together.

How we’re aligning:

  • ArtSci Lunch Buddies (188 participated from every department in 2025-26)
  • Staff Snack and Shares
  • ArtSci Week Parade & Block Party
  • Statewide Summits
  • Science Unwrapped
  • Tanner Talks
  • Faculty-in-Focus

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Steering Committee said: Participants were enthusiastic about cross-disciplinary work but noted that meaningful collaboration requires time, funding, logistical support, and recognition of workload.

How we’re aligning:

  • Established ArtSci Cross-Disciplinary Collaborative Grants
  • Fostering the development of new interdisciplinary courses, integrated research teams, and experiential learning opportunities, especially through Lunch Buddies and Faculty-in-Focus
  • Developing speed networking opportunities around emerging research/creative works topics
  • Facilitating conversations with departments around including cross-disciplinary activities into tenure and promotion documentation

Faculty, Staff, and Graduate Student Success

Steering Committee said: The community underscored the need for predictable support, mentoring, recognition, and attention to workload and compensation realities.

How we’re aligning:

Career Readiness & Experiential Learning

Steering Committee said: Students and faculty identified strong interest in internship coordination, alumni and industry connections, research opportunities, and discipline-specific advising, and called for parity for creative arts, humanities, and social science pathways alongside scientific opportunities.

How we’re aligning:

Shared Governance

Steering Committee said: There is continued desire for more shared governance, transparency, equitable representation, and broad participation on committees.

How we’re aligning:

  • Built new service and workload tracking tools, especially for tenure and promotion
  • Assigning ombudspersons
  • Equitable representation on committees across ranks, roles, departments, and campuses
  • Launching a Scholarship Committee
  • Launching a Research/Creative Works Impact Committee
  • Launching a Revised Strategic Plan Committee

Engaging with the Center for Civic Excellence

Steering Committee said: How will the Civic Center impact our departments, programs, enrollments, and funding moving forward?

How we’re aligning:

  • The Center reports to the Provost’s Office and is not in the College, but has a real impact on our College’s programs, students, and faculty.
  • Working towards more intentional liaison and communication
  • Seeking strong faculty and department engagement

ArtsSci Steering Committee

Co-Chairs

  • Darrin Brooks, Professor of Interior Architecture and Design, Department of Art and Design
  • Andrea DeHaan, Interim Director & Communications Manager, ArtSci Marketing and Communications

Committee Members

  • Zubair Barkat, Doctoral Student of Sociology, School of Social Sciences
  • Breanna Cahoon, Undergraduate Biology student, ArtSci Senator (Science)
  • Jen Evers, Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work, Department of Social Work (USU Moab)
  • Tracy Gilson, Chemistry Stores Manager, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • C.R. Grimmer, Assistant Professor of English, Department of English
  • Maureen Hearns, Associate Professor of Music Therapy, Department of Music
  • Erin Jensen, Community Education and Professional Development Program Coordinator, Transforming Communities Institute
  • Jeannie Johnson, Professor of Political Science, School of Social Sciences Director, Center for Anticipatory Intelligence
  • Aaron Kinghorn, Undergraduate Music Student, Caine School of the Arts Ambassador
  • Missy Kofoed, Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Holland Larsen, Printmaking Lab Manager and Instructor, Department of Art and Design
  • Brendan Lee, Academic Advisor, Instructor, Department of History, Cultures, and Ideas
  • Cathy Rushworth, Assistant Professor of Biology, Department of Biology
  • Stephen Van Geem, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, School of Social Sciences

The College of Arts & Sciences sincerely thanks these individuals for their enthusiastic, thoughtful, and dedicated engagement in our first year!