New blueprint for learning

First-year student Dominic Kodros is fascinated by the brain — which is why he is among the first students to declare neuroscience as a co-major, building off the knowledge he’ll receive in his primary major, premedicine. “It feels special to be part of the first class,” he said.

 Co-majors are part of UD’s efforts to be responsive, align internal resources, and ensure a mission-driven education prepares capable and community-minded citizens.

At the January Academic Senate meeting, Darlene Weaver, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, shared a vision of “how to best position and steward the University of Dayton for 2030 and beyond.”

Conversations among UD’s leadership team and faculty have been happening for more than a year.  Among the recent changes are:

     ADDING more programs, including data analytics and artificial intelligence.

     ADDING to the Master of Business Administration program concentrations in government contracting, government acquisition program management and engineering management.

     MOVING the departments of physics and computer science from the College of Arts and Sciences to the School of Engineering.

     MERGING the Department of Criminal Justice and Security Studies and the prelaw program into the Department of Political Science.

     MERGING the departments of music and art and design into the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

     SUSPENDING the master’s programs in chemistry and applied mathematics, which have historically low enrollments. 

“The sense of collaboration is really exciting,” said Toby Rush, associate professor of music who will become chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts. “Having a department that is truly cohesive is going to set UD apart in some pretty special ways.”

Changes to the Common Academic Program — an undergraduate curriculum that educates the whole person in the Catholic, Marianist tradition — launched in fall to provide students with course flexibility while ensuring they graduate with skills to respond to a constantly changing world.

Change, while it can be exciting, can also create fear and anxiety, noted Mary Insana Fisher, professor and chair of physical therapy: “I look at what we are being asked to do as a huge opportunity to reimagine what education in the 21st century should be. And I am thankful that our administration is letting us have a say in what that imagination can be.”

The campus community is now engaged in visioning sessions, where they are bringing forward ideas about what the UD of 2030 will offer its students and the world.

Photograph by Sylvia Stahl '18

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A version of this article appears in print in the Spring 2026 University of Dayton Magazine, Page 12. EXPLORE THE ISSUE — MORE ONLINE