The School for Cultural and Social Transformation and the College of Humanities have voted to merge.
In an online vote held May 27 and 28, the faculty of the school and the college voted to consolidate the academic units currently in Transform into a new unit of the College of Humanities in a bid to strategically reinvest and share resources. The change comes as the University of Utah, along with all of the state’s eight degree-granting institutions, face significant budget cuts and funding reallocations from the Utah Legislature.
Humanities Dean Wanda Pillow pledged to passionately advocate for the students, faculty and staff of both colleges moving forward.
“I am committed to making decisions with you all that allow our areas of study to excel and in the good and the difficult, I will be a nimble and staunch advocate for the College of Humanities and Ethnic, Gender and Disability Studies,” Pillow wrote in a message to the faculty. “I am confident that whatever challenges and changes we face, we have the capacity to be strategic and thoughtful in how we prioritize student experiences and success, faculty research and community and societal impact, as well as how we show up for each other.”
House Bill 265 requires all of Utah’s eight degree-granting institutions to cut 10% of their budgets—a total of $60.5 million over the next three years. The University of Utah is responsible for $19.5 million of that total and $7.5 million in cuts and reallocations this year, Fiscal Year 2026. At the same time, all main campus academic units have been charged with finding additional savings—ranging from 10% to 25%—to align with HB 265 and the university’s Impact 2030 strategic planning process.
Through that analysis, it became clear that Transform, which was established in 2016 and remained a small school, would struggle under the budget cuts. “Combining the school’s divisions of Ethnic and Gender Studies, as well as the Pacific Islands Studies certificate program, and the Disability Studies minor, into a larger college will bolster support for student success and faculty research and teaching,” said Provost Mitzi Montoya.
“I understand that some of these challenges have been present since the school was established, but the current level of external scrutiny makes it important to address them now,” Montoya wrote in a May 19 letter to Pillow. “In this climate of heightened focus on fiscal responsibility, we need to look at how we can creatively rethink organizational structure in order to improve access to resources for faculty and student success, and do so more efficiently.”
The university has merged or linked colleges, schools and departments before. In 2022, the College of Mines and Earth Sciences was moved into the College of Science in an effort to pool resources and enhance interdisciplinary collaboration. Four colleges—Humanities, Science, Social and Behavioral Sciences and Transform—have been brought together as the new Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a shared services model. And within Social and Behavioral Sciences, several departments have been combined into schools—including a new School of Public Affairs and a School of Environment, Sustainability and Society.
Montoya believes the faculty decision to merge Transform and Humanities into one college will preserve essential academic disciplines at the U.
Black Studies, Chicano Studies and American Indian Studies programs were established in 1968, then consolidated a decade later into Ethnic Studies. And the U’s Gender Studies Program was launched in 1976—an initiative led by the Women’s Resource Center. Early on, the programs received support from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, but primarily operated as interdisciplinary units made up of faculty across campus. Transform was established as a small school in 2016.
“These faculty and programs are important contributions to the plurality of disciplines that make for a healthy university community that is committed to academic freedom and excellence,” Montoya said. “But the scale of the school has made it challenging to justify dedicated resources, even though it’s clear that the faculty and students need greater access to support services. I believe this restructuring effort will make it possible for the students, faculty and staff in these disciplines to continue to thrive at the University of Utah.”
In signaling his support for the merger, President Taylor Randall acknowledged the decision, while difficult, will ultimately allow the programs to operate in a more sustainable and integrated structure, with access to broader resources and support.
“My support for this move is not only about fiscal responsibility—it is also a reflection of my commitment to Gender Studies, Disability Studies and the fields that make up Ethnic Studies—including African American Studies, American Indian Studies, Asian American Studies, Chicana/o and Latinx Studies, Diaspora Studies and Pacific Islands Studies,” Randall wrote in a letter to Pillow and Montoya. “Scholarship in these areas is essential to the University of Utah’s identity as a research institution committed to academic excellence, relevance and impact. This reorganization offers an opportunity to support those disciplines and ensure they remain a vital part of our intellectual community.”
During the 2024-25 Academic Year, 222 students were enrolled in Transform’s major and minor programs. Together, in 2025, Humanities and Transform graduated 675 undergraduates, 46 master’s students and 29 doctoral students. Current Transform student degree trajectories should not be impacted by this change.
Following the vote, a formal proposal will be submitted through the shared governance process, which includes votes by internal governance groups, as well as approvals by the university’s Board of Trustees and the Utah Board of Higher Education. The goal is to complete the merger by the end of 2025.