UA board approves School of Leadership and Policy, grants permission to seek state approval

The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees voted Nov. 7 to create the School of Leadership and Policy at the University of Alabama and authorized the university to submit the change to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.

President Peter Moller told trustees the school will combine leadership development and applied public policy education under one unit and will be housed in Farrar Hall. “By creating the School of Leadership and Policy, we are leaning into our commitment to our students and our place as the flagship of higher education, serving the state of Alabama,” Moller said.

The board heard that the school’s curriculum will be interdisciplinary and practice‑oriented, emphasizing internships, policy labs and partnerships with governmental and nonprofit organizations to prepare students for careers in public service, private enterprise and civic leadership. Senator Katie Britt, who addressed the board in support of the concept, said the school could become “a national model for leadership development and applied policy education.”

Trustees moved and seconded the resolution, and the board approved it without recorded opposition. The motion gives university leadership permission to submit the establishment request to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education for final state approval and to begin planning the Farrar Hall renovation needed to house the school.

The action was taken as part of a broader institutional report from President Moller that also discussed experiential learning requirements, expansion in data sciences and targeted growth in engineering and other strategic fields.