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SILS & SDSS Updates

On Oct. 9, 2025, the University announced the decision to launch a major initiative by creating a new school that will position Carolina as a national leader in information, library and data science research and teaching. As part of this initiative, the School of Information and Library Science and the School of Data Science and Society will join together as the founding leaders of this new school.

This page is dedicated to sharing updates and answering frequently asked questions about the creation of the new school. As the implementation plan progresses, we will continue to update this page. Last updated: Dec. 9, 2025

Updates

Nov. 26, 2025

Following a nomination and voting process, the members of the Working Groups have been selected as follows:

New School Identity
Co-chair Iain Carmichael, assistant professor, School of Data Science and Society
Co-chair Maggie Melo, associate professor, School of Information and Library Science
Ron Bergquist, teaching associate professor, School of Information and Library Science
Megan Graves, assistant director of development, School of Information and Library Science
Joyce Tan, interim senior director, Office of Research and director, Office of Cross-Sector Partnerships, School of Data Science and Society
Ziping Xu, assistant professor, School of Data Science and Society

One School Community
Co-chair Jaime Arguello, professor, School of Information and Library Science
Co-chair Santiago Olivella, associate professor, School of Data Science and Society and Department of Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences
Jenny Kaselak, associate director of the Carolina Health Informatics Program (CHIP), School of Information and Library Science
Yifei Lou, associate professor, School of Data Science and Society and Department of Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences
Isaac Orndorff, technology support specialist, School of Data Science and Society
Arcot Rajasekar, associate dean of research; professor; chief scientist, Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI)

Faculty Governance and Policies
Co-chair Melanie Feinberg, professor, School of Information and Library Science
Co-chair Alex McAvoy, assistant professor, School of Data Science and Society
Amarjit Budhiraja, senior associate dean for academic and faculty Affairs, School of Data Science and Society
Anita Crescenzi, assistant professor, School of Data Science and Society and School of Information and Library Science
Cal Lee, professor, School of Information and Library Science
Justin Sola, assistant professor, School of Data Science and Society and Department of Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences
Francesca Tripodi, associate professor, School of Information and Library Science, and principal investigator with the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP)
Yue (Ray) Wang, associate professor, School of Information and Library Science

Infrastructure and Operations
Co-chair Tashiana Carter, director of operations, School of Information and Library Science
Co-chair Joe Daley, associate dean for finance and operations, School of Data Science and Society and interim associate dean for finance and operations, School of Information and Library Science
Paulette Addison-Hernandez, operations specialist, School of Data Science and Society
Ben Levine, assistant director of undergraduate advising and programs, School of Information and Library Science
Beth Mayo, HR director, School of Data Science and Society
Rachel Utz, finance officer, School of Information and Library Science

Communications
Co-chair Liz Wozniak, director of communications, School of Information and Library Science
Co-chair Kristen Young, director of communications, School of Data Science and Society
Kenneth Gyan, director of information technology, School of Information and Library Science
Harlin Lee, assistant professor, School of Data Science and Society
Ryan Shivar, design and brand manager, School of Data Science and Society
Brian Sturm, professor, School of Information and Library Science

The Working Groups have been charged by the deans and will begin meeting soon on a regular basis.

Nov. 13, 2025

The task force has determined the initial working groups to address areas most in need of attention to create the new school by July 2026.

Initial working groups:

  • New School Identity
  • One School Community
  • Faculty Governance and Policies
  • Infrastructure and Operations
  • Communications

There may be additional working groups charged in the future and work needed to fully develop the new school is expected to continue beyond the July 2026 launch date.

The Task Force also agreed to establish the following advisory groups, separate from the working groups to ensure broad community participation:

  • Student Advisory Group
  • Campus Partner Group
  • Alumni Advisory Group

As for next steps, the deans are working with their schools to determine who will serve on the working groups and advisory groups.

Frequently Asked Questions

GENERAL

Operational Excellence, the University’s strategic consulting and change management team, is helping to guide the planning process for the new school. The schools have established a task force consisting of leadership from both SILS and SDSS.

Task force members include:

  • Stan Ahalt, Dean, School of Data Science and Society
  • Diane Kelly, Wilson Distinguished Professor and Interim Dean, School of Information and Library Science
  • Jay Aikat, Vice Dean, School of Data Science and Society
  • Rob Capra, Professor, School of Information and Library Science
  • Joe Daley, Associate Dean for Finance and Operations, School of Data Science and Society; Interim Associate Dean for Finance and Operations, School of Information and Library Science
  • Lori Haight, Director of Student Services, School of Information and Library Science
  • David Gotz, Professor and Director, Carolina Health Informatics Program, School of Information and Library Science
  • Terry R. Magnuson, Vice Dean for Research and Strategy and Distinguished Professor, School of Data Science and Society
  • Anna Rose Medley, Assistant Dean, School of Data Science and Society
  • Ericka Patillo, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Practice, School of Information and Library Science
  • Rei Sanchez-Arias, Teaching Associate Professor and MADS Faculty Director, School of Data Science and Society
  • Elizabeth Wozniak, Director of Communications, School of Information and Library Science
  • Kristen Young, Director of Communications, School of Data Science and Society

The task force has determined the initial working groups to address areas most in need of attention to create the new school by July 2026.

Initial working groups:

  • New School Identity
  • One School Community
  • Faculty Governance and Policies
  • Infrastructure and Operations
  • Communications

There may be additional working groups charged in the future and work needed to fully develop the new school is expected to continue beyond the July 2026 launch date.

The Task Force also agreed to establish the following advisory groups, separate from the working groups to ensure broad community participation:

  • Student Advisory Group
  • Campus Partner Group
  • Alumni Advisory Group
The new school is expected to launch July 2026.
The name of the new school will be informed by the work of the task force, advisory committee and working groups.
Stanley Ahalt, current dean of the School of Data Science and Society, will become dean of the new school. Jeffrey Bardzell, current dean of the School of Information and Library Science, will transition to full-time as Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer and Vice Provost for AI, a position that will allow him to lead Carolina’s response to AI and remain in close collaboration with the new school and other academic units. The full administrative structure of the new school is one of the topics that the task force, advisory committee and working groups are considering. We will continue to update the campus as the work progresses.
This announcement is just the start of a collaborative process. We welcome input, questions and feedback. The Operational Excellence team will conduct a survey across both schools to help inform direction and we encourage you to participate in that. We want faculty, staff and students from both schools and around campus to have chances throughout the planning process to share their thoughts and concerns.
Not only are we not planning on shutting down or dissolving any academic programs, we are hoping the new school is able to support academic program growth, both in terms of enrollment and impact.
This decision is primarily driven by the long-term possibilities and vision of growing the powerhouse academic programs of both schools, and we are confident this is the right decision for our campus. Throughout the planning process, we may identify some areas for administrative savings, but we are not aiming toward a specific amount and that’s not the primary driver.
We don’t expect changes to our accredited academic programs.

FACULTY

The Faculty Governance and Policies Working Group has been charged with developing APT, faculty workload and post-tenure review policies and procedures for the new school. The Working Group will provide recommendations to the Task Force. Once determined, the policies and procedures will be shared with the school community.
We expect the new school to have a common support staff and infrastructure, but the specifics of the administration and unit structure of the new school are topics the task force, advisory committee and working groups are addressing. We trust that they will take a careful and considered approach to these questions.

STAFF

We are still determining how staff positions, workload and salaries will be affected when creating the new school. We are committed to a thoughtful approach to staffing structure. Any and all changes will be made within the regulations of state HR policies and procedures.
The decision to create the new school was not part of ServiceFirst. ServiceFirst is a university-wide initiative currently focused specifically on HR, finance, procurement, IT, research administration and communications. There may be some changes to the new school’s administrative services in these categories as part of the ServiceFirst initiative. More information on ServiceFirst can be found at servicefirst.unc.edu.
Location of the new school’s operations is an area the task force is evaluating. No decisions have been made at this time about working locations, remote/hybrid work policies or parking.

STUDENTS

We are not planning on shutting down or dissolving any academic programs from either school. Students can continue to progress in their degree programs as planned. We hope that the new school will offer additional opportunities and prospects through research, scholarship, mentoring and corporate partnerships.
We do not expect a decrease in student support and hope that the new school offers additional opportunities for our students. Student support continues to be a key priority area and one that is being taken into consideration when determining plans for the new school.
The Spring 2026 graduation ceremonies for the School of Information and Library Science and the School of Data Science and Society will remain separate just as they have in the past. Graduates of both schools are encouraged to attend the University Commencement Ceremony on May 9, 2026, in Kenan Stadium.
All degrees are conferred by the University, not individual schools. We are not planning on shutting down or dissolving any academic programs from either school. Students will continue to progress in their degree programs as planned.