The committee developed to review the consequences of Pathways found it created complications and limitations for the university’s degree plans and academic programs.
The committee was created to review Pathways, a strategic plan that created changes within the university after Hurricane Katrina. The committee consisted of four members: Barbara Ewell, English professor and committee chairwoman; Ralph Tucci, math professor; Ann Cary, School of Nursing director; and Laurie Phillips, associate dean of Technical Services in Monroe Library.
The committee found that Pathways created many inconsistencies in the university’s organization, budget, academic programs and mission, according to its report.
“Pathways: Toward Our Second Century” was implemented in 2006. According to its plan, Pathways was developed to reorganize Loyola. The plan explains that Pathways reorganized the existing colleges and departments into five different colleges, cut several undergraduate and graduate degree programs, and terminated 17 tenured faculty members, which resulted in lawsuits against the university.
The committee’s final report stated that Pathways cut the education department, which has been detrimental to the university.
The program also cut funding to the City College, discontinued two programs in the School of Mass Communication and two computer science programs.
The committee was developed last November after the final lawsuit was settled.
“The committee was created to look at Loyola after Pathways,” Ewell said. “One of the things about this committee was it was not going to ask the questions: was Pathways a good idea at the time, were mistakes made and how the program was made,” she said.
Ewell said that the committee interviewed all deans from the undergraduate colleges and several directors of programs. The committee also examined statistics from the Office of Institutional Research and a study done by Maria Calzada, math professor.
“The committee found trends of inconsistency and several setbacks to the university,” Ewell said. “The committee’s major concerns lie within the discontinuance of the department of Education and the structure of the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences. The committee also released suggestions to resolve the consequences of Pathways.”
Ed Kvet, provost of Academic Affairs, and Melanie McKay, vice provost of Faculty Affairs, as well as other faculty members, said they are working to fix these problems.
“I have formed a group of faculty led by Vice Provost McKay to explore options for education certification programs with the State Department of Education, and the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences will be determining its upcoming curricular priorities which could include options for computer science,” Kvet said.
Lydia Voigt, senior vice provost of Academic Affairs is working hard to resolve the problems with Loyola’s City College, according to Ewell.
Jamie Futral can be reached at
