On Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, Doane staff held a town hall meeting to discuss the new realignment of Doane’s colleges, streamlining of administration, the future University Innovation and Development Center (name pending) and current government mandates.
Doane University President Roger Hughes spearheaded the town hall, which aimed to inform staff about the university’s large-scale restructuring, which was announced via email on Friday, Jan. 31, and aimed to both give staff an opportunity to voice their concerns and questions as well as inform them about the changes Doane is poised to undergo.
The largest news from the town hall was the college realignment: Doane is poised to go from three colleges to two. One of the three colleges, the College of Education, the College of Business and the College of Art & Science, is poised to be restructured with one of the pre-existing colleges; however, which college will be restructured into one of the preexisting colleges has not been finalized yet and will take multiple months to be announced and subsequently realigned. The reasons for the restructuring are unfilled positions, student enrollment and a streamlining of positions.
This restructuring will be spearheaded by a staff and facility task force tasked with outlining how the restructuring will look, how the new departments will look after the colleges are restructured and how the student experience will be affected. President Hughes emphasized that despite the college restructuring, no major or minor programs will be cut from Doane.
This restructuring will be proposed to the new Vice President of Academic Affairs. Once in place, the new VPAA will work with faculty and staff to put the plan into effect.
Also at the town hall, President Hughes shared with staff the proposed plans for the University Innovation and Development Center (UIDC). The UIDC aims to change the library into an adaptive technology center with adaptable labs, workshops about emerging technologies and tools to spearhead Doane’s adoption of AI. The library staff will lead the UIDC, which aims to give students access to emerging technologies so they can be prepared for the technology they will use post-graduation.
The UIDC is still in the very early planning stages, as even the name is not finalized. However, President Hughes emphasized that due to changing technologies in the workforce, he felt it was wise to create a space for students to have access to the technology of the future. Students and staff can expect more updates on the UIDC in the coming months.
The town hall then opened up the floor to the facility and staff to ask questions, which ranged from questions about the college restructuring the future of certain programs to the creation of the staff task forces.
One repeating question was about the future of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at Doane as well as some clarification about federal immigration policies. President Hughes reaffirmed to the staff that Doane remains committed to DEI initiatives but that they could be repackaged or renamed to meet federal guidelines. Regarding new immigration guidelines, President Hughes said that Doane will follow federal laws; however, they will have protections in place for international students and will work within the university to make sure students meet current immigration guidelines.
The crackdowns on DEI initiatives and immigration have been key issues of United States President Donald Trump’s administration. Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen signed an executive order for all state agencies to support the executive orders President Trump wrote in his first weeks of being in the White House. President Hughes and Doane Leadership have informed staff that they are currently closely watching what is happening at the federal and state levels as well as communicating with those in and around the government.
