University Restructuring 10.25.23

Dear Members of the Campus Community:

As a part of our continuing effort to recenter Christian Brothers University for the future, I want to make you aware of important updates to our organizational structure that will accomplish $1 million in savings at the administrative level. This is a difficult but important step to address the Board of Trustees’ directive to reduce salaries, wages, and benefits by $4 million over the next 18 months.

The restructuring will result in the elimination of nine (9) full-time positions and a streamlining of the organization overall by repositioning various areas of focus. Details of the changes are as follows:

  • Elimination of three (3) Vice President positions to include the VP of Strategy (12/31/2023), VP of Mission and Identity, and VP of Enrollment Management.
  • Four of the remaining five (4 of 5) VP level positions will be renamed and/or have new responsibilities.
  • The VP of Student Development and Campus Life will become VP of Student Flourishing, a role that will be served by Beth Gerl. This role will focus on our students as whole persons – caring for their spiritual, emotional, and physical needs and development. Joining Beth’s current team members in Student Development and Campus Life and Campus Safety will be our Campus Ministry and Community Engagement teams. 
  • Recognizing that Enrollment Management and Academics need to be better aligned to support our students, Dr. Lydia Rosencrants will serve as CBU’s first Provost and VP of Academics.  Lydia will continue to oversee academic programs. Under her umbrella, the Library, Institutional Effectiveness, the Honors Program, the Registrar, CDI, Academic Support, and Partnerships will be overseen by our current AVP of Academics and Strategic Initiatives, Dr. Jack Hargett. Dr. Dan Harper will serve as the AVP of Enrollment Management and will lead the functions of Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions and International Initiatives. 
  • Financial Aid will now be reporting to the Executive Vice President of Finance and CFO.  
  • Marketing and Communications will be reporting to the Vice President of Advancement.  
  • Academics and Student Flourishing will now assume responsibilities formerly held by Global College and Student Success.
  • Other departments impacted by the reorganization include Undergraduate Admissions, Operations, CDI, and the School of Engineering. 
  • Certain individuals within the administration will move to new areas of responsibility. Paul Haught will return to a faculty position, and Joey Preston will move to Major Gift Officer on the Advancement team. We thank Paul and Joey for their efforts and look forward to their contributions in their new roles.

To begin realizing savings and the new efficiencies created by this important process, all changes are effective immediately, unless otherwise noted. A new organization chart has been added to our website to help navigate these updates. 

These changes are not made lightly because they impact people we care about – our colleagues and friends – and we thank them for their commitment to our students and our mission and wish them the very best on their journeys.  We are a caring community and I am grateful that you will care for those around you and be sensitive to their needs. This link provides access, through MyCBU, to resources that you can utilize or share with others 

I also want to thank all of our staff in advance for working together to ensure a smooth transition. These changes will require people to take on additional work, and I appreciate everyone’s willingness to support one another. We believe these changes will ensure closer alignment with our mission to enhance student learning and increase retention, while also focusing on creating effective and efficient working relationships that strengthen the integrity of CBU’s programs and services.

As we continue to move toward the appropriate program and expenditure levels for our current and anticipated future financial situation, we remain committed to fostering an educational community that is committed to academic excellence, the betterment of society, and the care of God’s creation. Thank you for your partnership as we work to support our shared mission to our students and our community.

Together and by association,

Dave Archer
President of Christian Brothers University

Organization Chart