Chancellor Rogers' Message, October 2025

October 9, 2025

To the ECU Community:

Last week, I had the opportunity to join fellow college presidents and other higher education leaders in Washington, D.C., at a board meeting as part of my service on the American Council on Education’s board. While there was no shortage of topics to discuss and explore, I found that virtually every conversation—whether as a board or individually—kept coming back to one fact: higher education is at a crossroads.

The way each school chooses to meet this moment will define how it intends to lead into the future. For some, the path ahead seems fraught with peril. For others, like ECU, it is a moment of reinvention and rebirth—a chance to extend our reach, enhance our mission, and serve even more students.

At ECU, we’ve been preparing for this journey for several years. The preparation for this moment and the path ahead do not promise to be easy, but through hard work we can see the immense value that lies ahead for our campus. I’m proud of the work we’ve already done together and of what we will continue to do in the coming years. We will keep innovating in new and exciting ways that address the needs of tomorrow while strengthening our commitment to fulfilling our mission.

To that end, I’m pleased to announce the creation of a new college at ECU, which will combine our College of Allied Health Sciences and our College of Health and Human Performance. This new college is intended to better align our academic community and create greater opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and teaching.

The future of ECU rests on our ability to provide a nimble education supported by dynamic academic resources. The creation of this new college affords us the opportunity to reimagine programs that strengthen our already solid foundation. It will bring together academic disciplines in ways that create new research opportunities and new pathways for students to enter the health professions. At the same time, it allows us to adapt to the evolving demands of the health care industry and ensure that we’re providing our students with a curricular experience that prepares them for a rapidly changing field. We know that the deans of both the College of Allied Health Sciences and the College of Health and Human Performance share in our excitement about the opportunities created by this new enterprise.

From a financial perspective, this combination will allow us to reinvest in teaching and classroom support, as well as generate efficiencies to support our fiscal health initiative. It will give academic leadership greater visibility into the work and the changing marketplace, enabling the administration to provide the resources necessary for success in the classroom and for our students.

In the coming weeks, Provost Chris Buddo will convene a committee of faculty and administrators to explore and shape the structure, academic components, and governance of the new college. The committee will also consider if academic units housed in other colleges should be recommended as part of this redesign.

We understand that change can bring apprehension, and we are committed to ensuring a smooth and transparent transition for units within the existing colleges. This committee will ensure that the new entity reflects the values, expertise, and aspirations of our university community, as well as those of the existing Colleges of Allied Health Sciences and Health and Human Performance.

This is a moment for higher education to prove itself and to show the communities we serve our commitment to delivering value and providing the resources students need in a changing world. This is more than just an academic discussion—it’s a call for bold and compelling action. And that’s exactly what we’re doing at ECU.

It’s a great time to be a Pirate!

Chancellor Philip Rogers