Slippery Rock University is finishing the organizational structure of two new schools, a College of Engineering and Science and a College of Health Professions.

The university is splitting its College of Health, Engineering and Science starting this fall, which SRU administrators said would enhance the university's visibility among employers and prospective students and create greater organizational efficiencies and more concentrated leadership.

Michael Zeig, associate provost for finance, planning and strategic initiatives at SRU, gave a presentation to trustees Thursday. He said a search committee recently narrowed down candidates for each college’s dean, and administrators are working on separating the call centers and budgets.

Administrators are also hosting elections for the chairperson of each college, which will be finished by the end of the semester.

“We will run the summer with the current structure, because it would be too hard to change for the summer term,” Zeig said. “The new chairs will take office in the summer. The new course catalog will come online Aug. 1.”

Zeig said in his presentation that John Bonaguro, who was selected last March to be the founding dean of the College of Health Professions, has been searching for new partnerships to develop a professional network that extends outside the university for students to learn from.

One new partnership could be Grove City Hospital, which SRU President William Behre said already works closely with the university.

“Grove City is where we send our students more often,” Behre said.

The College of Health Professions will house such majors as exercise science and athletic training, healthcare administration and management, nursing, occupational therapy, and psychology; while the College of Engineering and Science will have majors including biology, chemistry, computer science, physics and engineering.