Over the course of the past two years, sixteen members of the New American Colleges and Universities (NAC&U), with the support of a grant from The Teagle Foundation, have worked toward a common goal of improving the structure of academic units and further ensuring that students receive the best educational experience possible. The result of this work is a recommendation for a new way of organizing departments and programs—what we are calling “the holistic department”—along with a recommendation for a new process of evaluating faculty called “the learning centered paradigm.” This monograph represents the thinking and conclusions of the participating institutions, which are designed to improve student learning, more accurately reflect faculty work in the 21st century, and continue moving our institutions forward in the age of technology and changing modalities of teaching and learning.