The University of Denver announced a major academic restructuring Tuesday that includes closing and merging departments and combining schools at the 11,500-student campus.
DU leader acknowledged that the changes will eliminate an unspecified number of jobs, but said the organizational realignment is “not really a part of” addressing the institution’s larger budget shortfall.
“The restructuring is really for the future to make sure we’re agile and nimble to match the size we are and match student demand,” DU Chancellor Jeremy Haefner said in a Tuesday morning interview with The Denver Post. “We’re very excited about this.”
The religious studies department within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and the electrical and computer engineering department within the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science will close this year, Haefner said.
The religious studies department is home to eight faculty members, said Sahara Byrne, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, which oversees the department.
Fifteen faculty members made up the electrical and computer engineering department at the start of the year, but many have already departed, said Corinne Lengsfeld, senior vice provost for research and graduate studies and acting dean of the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science. Eight faculty members remain, she said.
DU leaders said faculty members also voted to close three additional departments: philosophy; gender, women’s and sexuality studies; and socio-legal studies.
Yet no academic programs are being eliminated, Haefner said. All current academic programs for the two closed departments, including undergraduate majors, minors and graduate degrees, will continue at this time outside of those departments, he said. New students will join in the next academic year within those degree programs, and current students can continue and achieve their degrees outside of the eliminated departments, DU Provost Elizabeth Loboa said.
“Change is hard, but in reality, higher education is under a lot of pressure,” Lengsfeld said. “Not just financially, but also public pressure to be more agile and adapt and to create higher return on investments for students who attend and get degrees, so in some ways right now this is very painful, but I think in the end itap going to be very healthy.”
As part of the restructuring — which has been in development for years through committee work with staff, faculty and administration — schools within DU are also merging.
The Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science is merging with the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The Graduate School of Professional Psychology will join with the Morgridge College of Education and the Graduate School of Social Work.
To “integrate the performing arts,” the Lamont School of Music, the theater program and the Newman Center Presents will be brought under the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Two new units in that college will “elevate Global Languages & Cultures and Communication & Media Arts,” the university said.
DU is investing in “interdisciplinary hubs” to better connect faculty, staff and students across and within colleges, Loboa said.
As an example, DU’s Mental Health and Wellness Collaborative will now work with the new dean of the combined Graduate School of Professional Psychology, Graduate School of Social Work and Morgridge College of Education to integrate training clinics from four existing colleges into one on-campus mental health clinic for students.
The university is also building a hub focused on preparing undergraduate students for careers in health, DU leaders said, by integrating the existing kinesiology program and an existing pre-health program.
“Yes, this moment is hard, but lower student numbers are an indication we’re not faring well with the needs of the student population or the desires, so this is a great time to pivot, rethink and push forward in places we can excel,” Lengsfeld said.
Loboa said DU has a balanced budget for the 2027 fiscal year and that these changes are “not really a part” of addressing major budget deficits the university announced earlier this year due, in part, to drops in international students and the overall campus population.
“I don’t know about specific cost savings,” Loboa said when asked how much money these closures and mergers would save the university. “I think itap more about leaning into our future and providing whatap best for our students and our faculty. Any time you reduce administrative staffing, and if you have fewer deans and associate deans, you’re going to have cost savings. For me, the bigger component is we are leaning into what we’re exceptional at and really making sure we’re providing what will best serve our students.”
In September, Loboa said the university will begin internal searches for two founding deans of the new merged colleges, who will oversee much of the restructuring.
“I’m not worried about the university because I know the educational experience is top, top, top-notch,” said Sahara Byrne, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
What worried Byrne when she arrived at DU about a year ago, she said, was the faculty size, which she said was too large for the number of students, as exemplified by course cancellations due to low enrollment.
Byrne said she took the position with faculty and staff that it was their collective problem to fix. She began meeting with faculty and departments, letting them know which she felt had too many and which were in good shape.
“All of us would have loved to have done this over a 5-to-10-year timeline, but I did worry we would be in very big trouble if we didn’t start thinking in solutions soon.”
Byrne said she believed religious studies students would actually have a better experience after the department closure with incoming lounges, better advising and more interdisciplinary learning.
DU faculty and administration agreed that the past year has been hard for higher education, with so many edicts from the Trump administration, plus compounding demographic shifts that impact enrollment.
“I think people are worried,” said Sarah Watamura, DU Faculty Senate president.
Rumors have been flying about proposed changes, Watamura said, and tensions have been high.
“Whatap been has made it clear what the sector is up against,” Watamura said. “I’m happy that we’re being responsive to those changes, and I think, for the most part, they are changes that make sense for us across a long history of things we’ve considered doing. I think change is hard, and I think, particularly, the loss of colleagues is something I never expected to experience. Department closures, that kind of thing that impacts our ability to retain faculty and staff, is heartbreaking. And yet, I think we have to adjust like schools all over the country to the demands that we’re facing.”
