The retirement of Dean Darlene Kluka, effective December 31, 2016, has afforded us the opportunity to think strategically about our organizational structure and our ongoing effort to improve efficiency and create synergies. After discussions with the Dean, faculty and staff of the School of Human Performance and Leisure Sciences (“HPLS”) we have decided that the programs, faculty and staff embedded within HPLS will be transitioning to a new reporting structure under other academic units in the university. The new structure will be as follows:
- The Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences will move to the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and the chairperson will be Dr. Kathy Ludwig (who will report directly to Associate Dean Tony Umadhay). Dr. Carl Cramer will serve as Associate Dean and oversee inter-professional education (and will report to Dean John McFadden);
- The graduate and undergraduate programs in Sport Management will move to the School of Business;
- Intercollegiate Athletics (under the direction of Mr. Mike Covone) will move to the Office of the Provost (reporting directly to Provost John Murray).
HPLS has had a long and productive history at Barry. The new homes for these programs will hopefully lead to new synergies, resulting in increased interdisciplinary scholarly and programmatic collaborations.
Dr. Darlene Kluka is to be commended for her strong and impressive leadership of HPLS. Barry University wishes her well in her future endeavors. Before the end of the semester, we will have a campus-wide reception to honor the good work of the HPLS faculty as well as Dean Kluka.