Dhruti Panchal couldn’t imagine spending the next five to seven years writing articles and logging data, but most doctoral programs she found focused on research and publishing clinical psychology rather than practicing it.
“Having worked in community mental health, I wanted to positively contribute to health and well-being while going to school,” she explained. She kept searching until she found a practitioner-scholar model that empowers students to apply research to social justice and mental health efforts in local contexts.
Panchal found Augsburg.
During orientation for the Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program last fall, Panchal learned the university had shifted the structure of its academic programs from two large divisions to five schools focused on the arts, business, health, humanities and social sciences, and natural sciences.
Provost Paula O’Loughlin explained how the five-schools model aligns Augsburg’s organizational structure with the university’s core values and its goals for the future: “The schools serve as smaller academic neighborhoods where students have closer ties with peers and mentors, greater support for career exploration, and a deeper sense of belonging—all of which empowers them to succeed in their professional lives and as leaders in their communities.”
Interprofessional and community-centered education
Panchal liked the sound of five schools, but—as a student—she didn’t anticipate noticing the effects of a structural shift. As the semester progressed, however, she witnessed various disciplines working together “to gain a better understanding of the complex and interdisciplinary nature of health care,” she said.
The School of Health invited Panchal to help launch its Interprofessional Clinical Education initiative later this spring, which will facilitate students’ professional development and collaborative practice skills. Panchal said this and other interdisciplinary projects have deepened a sense of shared identity among the school’s departments, which also include nursing, social work, and physician’s assistant studies.
“As part of the initiative, we are creating a virtual telementoring program that allows students to build and exercise skills as they work through real-world problems,” she said. “This telementoring will play a big role in furthering and facilitating community by bringing together students, faculty, community partners, and alumni for professional development, resource sharing, and interprofessional education.
“By learning to work with different disciplines to solve real-world health problems as a team, students are better prepared for practica, internships, and jobs.”
Director of the School of Health Vanessa Bester said she and the other four school directors are eager to build partnerships and foster dialogue. “The five-school model has created a platform for us to work together, with outcomes driven by our collective energy and dedication to each other, our students, and our communities,” she explained. “It’s been exciting to be a part of that momentum to foster collaborative, inclusive, and transformative education.”
The School of Health held a fall retreat for faculty and staff to celebrate, connect, and plan. From the retreat, the school formed working groups focused on five areas: shared operational resources; interprofessional education; grants and funding; community and alumni relations; and student success.
In less than three months, Bester said, the School of Health is on track to centralize student onboarding, establish a graduate student government, and build a database to support future funding opportunities.
Lori Brandt Hale, director of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, worked closely with department chairs last fall to identify opportunities for collaboration among this school’s 36 undergraduate majors and two graduate programs, all deeply rooted in experiential education and social justice.
“Many productive conversations emerged from our work together, including hands-on discussions, which opened up opportunities to collaborate, cross-list, and advise students to take appropriate classes in other departments. We ensured classes were being offered across all time slots and sequenced appropriately,” she added. “We want to create a habit of this kind of robust, collaborative work.”
Brandt Hale will facilitate a school-wide retreat in the spring to amplify and leverage opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration and curricular innovation in the new school structure.
Strengthened community connections
That collaborative work and spirit extends beyond the confines of each school. The five school directors meet weekly to share and discuss, and Hale said those university-wide connections may lead to the new model’s most innovative outcomes.
“Each director brings a unique disciplinary lens to important conversations regarding university-wide or community issues,” Hale said. “As members of the faculty, we have a clear sense of the needs and challenges of the departments and programs under our direction.”
Jeanne Boeh, director of the School of Business, said school directors act as translators between disciplines within their schools as well as with other directors and university leadership. That deeper understanding of their school helps directors better advocate for and identify opportunities across the university and in the community.
“This model,” she said, “makes us collectively stronger and more agile. We can do more and be more.”
A stronger sense of identity and purpose, Boeh added, helps faculty and directors better communicate with external stakeholders. For example, she said, “It’s easier to approach a community partner and say you are the School of Business rather than the Division of Professional Studies. They know what a School of Business is, so the five-school model makes more sense to people outside of the university. It gives them more direct access to decision-makers.”
With deep ties in the community, the School of Business will explore ways to expand signature programs, including the Augsburg Entrepreneurship Cup, a competition for student entrepreneurs, and the Innovation Scholars program, which engages students in the business development of medical innovations.
“We are just getting started,” Boeh said, “but it’s an exciting time to be an Auggie or to partner and dream with us.”
A clear approach
Ben Stottrup, director of the School of Natural Sciences, said he is proud of the way Augsburg has responded to its natural growth. “University leadership is constantly reflecting on how we can best serve our students and the community,” he said.
“The shift to five schools is not a critique of what was, but a demonstration of Augsburg’s commitment to personal, hands-on learning and experiences that prepare students to lead.”
The previous Division of Arts and Sciences, he said, supported 50 majors and managed nearly 100 full-time faculty. Division-wide meetings were few and far between, and faculty were not always clear about whom to approach with ideas—an opaque complexity that could stifle creativity and collaboration. Requests for reports and data collection pulled faculty away from teaching, research, and service.
“The five-school model reduces layers of structure to provide faculty, staff, and students with a more direct link to administrators,” Stottrup said. “Each director has a seat at the table and can take on much of the work to plan and create efficiencies for administrative tasks and reporting.” The new structure, he added, has also revealed ways to eliminate redundancies and create more user-friendly processes, which gifts faculty more time and energy to prepare students to be critical thinkers, informed citizens, and thoughtful stewards.
A deliberate evolution with philanthropic promise
Stottrup said he and his fellow directors have benefitted from the thoughtful and transparent formation of the five-school model, a process that began in 2019 with an interdisciplinary, campus-wide task force that explored ways to adapt to Augsburg’s growth and institutional goals.
In April 2023, Augsburg announced the creation of the John N. Schwartz ’67 School of the Arts. Established through an estate gift from a visionary alumnus, the school houses 12 undergraduate majors in narrative, performing, and visual arts, as well as master’s degrees in music therapy and creative writing.
O’Loughlin said that the collaborations and efficiencies that emerged from the creation of the Schwartz School spurred conversations about expanding the school-based model across disciplines. Augsburg faculty unanimously voted to approve the shift to five schools in Spring 2024.
The Schwartz School also opened Augsburg’s eyes to the fundraising promise and power of more connected, focused communities of practice. “Putting a name to a school,” O’Loughlin said, “furthers a sense of pride, history, and connection across generations.”
Schwartz School Director Christopher Houltberg said it’s been a privilege to create student learning and experiences that demonstrate that “we can do so much more together than we can separately.”
In late January, the school came together to participate in the Great Northern Winter Festival, which engages the Twin Cities in 10 days of outdoor activities, live music, art, dining experiences, and community conversations. Houltberg said “Expanding Landscapes & Impossible Futures” invited the public into a multisensory experience to explore physical and psychological shifts of climate change.
“In response to our external environment, humanity’s own internal systems and senses have adapted, evolved, shifted, and sometimes even faltered,” Houltberg said. “This event showcased the range of artistic output among the school’s 10 undergraduate majors, two graduate programs, five performing ensembles, three art galleries, multiple annual theater productions, and the Design & Agency trans-disciplinary design studio.” Citlali Flores ’25, a studio art and art education major, said the shift to five schools has created more visibility for her work and major.
“Since the formation of the Schwartz School, I’ve seen more resources for our art department, and it feels bigger,” said Flores, an aspiring elementary school art teacher. “It’s also been fun to see more non-art majors taking art classes because they want to try different mediums of expression. It gets us all out of our bubbles.”
Hearing students and even community members reflect on visible progress, Houltberg said, encourages the schools to continue toward creative and bold outcomes.
Panchal said she and other students are proud to know the university is continually learning, as they are, about the best ways to move through and impact the world. Rather than data entry, her next five to seven years will be a brave experiment for all she can accomplish within a close, imaginative, and driven campus community.
“I didn’t settle and kept looking for a university that shared my vision to positively contribute to the health and well-being of my community,” she said. “I’m now laying the groundwork for a project that will positively impact students’ learning experience, including my own, and I look forward to engaging in all the collaborative efforts that will come from more focused schools of learning and service.”
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