East Stroudsburg –– Two new colleges and a new department have been established at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania as part of an academic reorganization designed to enhance student learning and preparation for careers and life.

The new College of Business, Management and Economics and the new College of Education were announced by ESU President Dr. Robert J Dillman and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Kenneth W. Borland, Jr., who spearheaded the effort.  Also recently formed at the university is the new Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Studies Department.

The Council of Trustees approved the new colleges after four months of collaborative planning among the faculty, academic deans, the provost and other members of the president’s council, and the University Senate.

Among the first goals of the new colleges is developing and documenting the standards required by each department’s national accrediting agency.  Meeting these requirements and applying for accreditations is first on the agenda, in accordance with goals outlined by President Dillman and Dr. Judy G. Hample, chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

College of Business, Management, and Economics:

The new College of Business, Management, and Economics comprises four existing departments: Business Management and Economics; Sports Management; Recreation and Leisure Services Management; and Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management.  The combined enrollment in these departments was 1,104 during the fall semester ’06 and enrollment in the Business Management and Economics program has grown by 82% since 1997.

The Business Management and Economics program will apply for accreditation to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the premier international accrediting agency for business schools. 

College of Education:

The School of Professional Studies has been reorganized as the College of Education, allowing ESU to feature its teacher education programs with greater appeal to prospective students, faculty and administrators, and to strategically improve the preparation of teachers.

The new college will house the following departments: Early Childhood and Elementary Education; Media Communication and Technology; Professional and Secondary Education; Reading; Special Education and Rehabilitation. 

Department of Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Studies:

This department will be housed in the school of Arts and Sciences which is directed by Dean, Peter Hawkes.  The purpose of the new department will be to help students understand the role that race, gender, ethnicity, culture and diverse abilities have in society.  Gaining such an understanding will ideally lead to developing informed perspectives and choices, while helping students take an interdisciplinary approach to learning.

One of the first tasks of the new department will be to develop courses of study in American Intercultural Studies and a second, more theoretical minor in Intercultural Studies.

The department will simultaneously create a three-credit Freshman Seminar course that will introduce students to intercultural and interdisciplinary studies and help them assimilate into the academic culture. 

Dr. Patricia Graham, will chair the new department, leading a team that will make the initial decisions about curriculum, faculty hiring and other appointments