Saint Mary’s Launches School of Arts & Sciences to Advance Academic Innovation and Student Opportunity
Unifying the sciences, arts, and humanities, the new school reflects a forward-looking vision—focusing programs, strengthening areas of high student interest, and expanding interdisciplinary learning. An inaugural Dean will be named later this week.
Saint Mary’s College of California has announced the launch of its new School of Arts & Sciences, a unified academic home for the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities that reflects both the College’s enduring values and its forward-looking vision for student learning and success.
Formed through the unification of what have been known as the School of Liberal Arts and School of Science, the new school brings together disciplines that have long been at the heart of a Saint Mary’s education—fields grounded in inquiry, creativity, ethical reasoning, and scientific understanding. The new school opens on July 1, 2026, and the College is nearing the conclusion of a national search for the inaugural Dean, whose leadership will help shape the school’s academic direction and interdisciplinary ambitions.
“The School of Arts and Sciences creates a more integrated academic environment for students at a moment when the most important questions facing society increasingly demand fluency across disciplines.”
— Carol Ann Gittens, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
According to Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Carol Ann Gittens, the new structure reflects the increasingly interdisciplinary ways students learn, think, and prepare for their futures.
“The School of Arts and Sciences creates a more integrated academic environment for students at a moment when the most important questions facing society increasingly demand fluency across disciplines,” says Gittens.
An Integrated Vision for Learning in a Changing World
The creation of the School of Arts & Sciences comes at a pivotal moment for higher education and for Saint Mary’s—one that calls for continued focus on academic excellence, an enhanced student experience, expanded access and opportunity, and sustained investment in the places and spaces that support learning. This unification will foster deeper collaboration, highlight distinctive programs, and strengthen faculty excellence—positioning the College for growth and broader recognition.
As the College looks to the future, it is bolstering in particular areas of growing student interest and societal need—including education, nursing, health sciences, and the continued evolution of a next-generation business education through its School of Economics and Business Administration (SEBA)—while reaffirming the enduring value of a true liberal arts foundation and a well-rounded education. Together, these priorities position Saint Mary’s to equip students not only with knowledge but with the ability to think critically, act ethically, and adapt in a rapidly changing world.
Central to this evolution is a renewed emphasis on the skills and habits of mind that transcend any single area of study. Across the School of Arts & Sciences, that means ensuring competencies that cut across disciplines—ethical reasoning, clear communication, quantitative and data literacy, and data analytics, along with emerging fluency in areas such as artificial intelligence. At Saint Mary’s, students are encouraged not only to learn these skills but to practice and apply them in real-world contexts, preparing them to contribute meaningfully in their professions and communities.
Aligning Academic Programs with Student Interests and Opportunity
The hallmark Collegiate Seminar program remains at the heart of Saint Mary’s core curriculum, fostering dialogue, reflection, and interdisciplinary learning across cultures, traditions, and fields of study.
At the same time, the College continues to thoughtfully evolve its academic offerings to ensure strong alignment with student interests, educational opportunity, and long-term institutional vitality. In several cases, for example, low-enrollment majors, minors, or concentrations are being streamlined into broader continuing areas of study while preserving related coursework and the breadth of faculty expertise.
Meanwhile, the College continues to strengthen and expand academic areas aligned with emerging student interests and workforce needs, with an eye toward empowering leaders of tomorrow. Those areas range from health sciences and communication to business, education, and the social sciences, and a broad range of programs across the arts, humanities, and natural sciences.
The new School of Arts & Sciences, in turn, creates expanded opportunities to bolster interdisciplinary collaboration and integrated learning, and to forge innovative academic pathways that prepare students to think critically, lead ethically, communicate effectively, and adapt thoughtfully.
“By bringing the sciences, arts, humanities, and social sciences together within a single school, we are expanding opportunities for collaboration, creativity, ethical inquiry, innovation, and human-centered learning,” said Provost Gittens. “In the end, this is about academic excellence, adaptability, and preparing graduates to make meaningful contributions in their professions and communities.”
Mike Janes is Senior Director of Executive Communications and Senior Writer. Steven Boyd Saum is Executive Director of Strategic Communications & Content. Write them.
