By Elise Kidd & Cypris Wilkinson  

MONTEVALLO, Ala. — The University of Montevallo has paused previously announced plans to merge the existing Department of Theatre and the Department of Music for the Fall 2025 semester, according to a university official. 

This news comes nearly a month after majors in both departments were notified of the merger via email by the Dean of the College of Fine Arts, Dr. Sean Atkinson. Though an updated email has not yet been sent, Dean Atkinson intends to make sure majors are aware soon.   

The dean said this pause will allow for more detailed planning and discussions about the impacts of a merger. 

“The idea is to, at the very least, slow the process down, so that we’re not rushing into something and making up a plan without fully considering what the ramifications might be,” said Atkinson. “This will allow us at least an academic year to really come together, debate and think about what that would look like long term for the university and the College of Fine Arts.”  

Dean Atkinson said to the choice to pause the merge is the right thing to do after hearing feedback from faculty and students. 

“Thankfully, the administration was willing to understand that the right decision is to slow things down as much as possible, just to make sure that we’re doing it appropriately and with input from everyone involved,” he said.

The dean acknowledges that there are a lot of concerns regarding how merging the departments may impact people’s understanding of their roles within their respective disciplines. 

“Any kind of big change like this is going to cause a lot of uncertainty,” he said. “It’s going to cause a lot of fear about ‘What’s our identity as a music faculty or as a theatre faculty or as a theatre student?’” 

When the merger was originally announced, current theatre chair Michael Walker was slated to become the chair of the new combined department, while current music chair Dr. Lori Ardovino would become music’s program coordinator. Now that plan has changed. 

“The decision to merge the departments happened so quickly. I don’t think there was enough time for me, being new on campus, to try to figure out what would an alternate, temporary solution look like. I’m very thankful that we were able to come up with a temporary solution that satisfies sort of the goals of what the merger would get us while letting us have some time to think about it a little bit more deeply.”  

Dr. Sean Atkinson, Dean of the College of Fine Arts

Following the decision to pause the merger, Dean Atkinson will serve as interim chair of the Department of Music. Prior to his time at UM, he held the role of Director of the School of Music at Texas Christian University for three years.  

“I’ve got experience and background in doing that. So, it made sense for me to be able to step into that role,” Atkinson said. “I’m not getting any extra compensation for that, but it allows us to let the department keep going as a department and to give us some time.” 

Dean Atkinson said plans to merge the two departments in the future would likely be discussed more in this upcoming academic year. 

“I think that we’ll keep this sort of on the burner as a conversation throughout the entire academic year. Then, probably, at some point, we’ll bring it back up in earnest and talk about how we would want, maybe Fall 2026, to look like,” Atkinson said. 

Overall, the decision to pause the combining of the Department of Music and Department of Theatre is to allow more time and consideration for faculty, staff and students voices to be heard in both departments.  

“We want to make sure we’re doing things that will have the effect we want – that the financial piece of it works – but that it also makes sense academically for both departments.”