Liberty University merges schools of communication, arts

Liberty University’s School of Communication and Digital Content and its School of Visual and Performing Arts are merging to create the School of Communication and the Arts, Liberty announced Friday.

The newly combined school has more than 2,000 students and offer residential and online programs. Dean Scott Hayes will oversee residential students and Dean Kevin Rawls will oversee online students.

The School of Communication and the Arts includes areas of study for students in communication, digital media, journalism, studio art, graphic design and theater, and offers undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees. Existing academic programs from both schools will continue as a result of the merger.

“SCA will be a place designed to provide opportunities for creatives and artists to develop their craft, whatever the discipline,”  Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr. said in a statement.

Hayes, Rawls and Vice Provost Ron Hawkins — who has served as interim dean of the School of Communication and Digital Content since July 2019 — worked with the department leaders of both schools in planning the consolidation.

“The process, which took place over several months and included leadership from both schools, led to the conclusion that bringing the two schools together would be a better use of existing resources,” Hawkins said in a statement.