The Provost’s Office is reorganizing its responsibilities and portfolios with the hope of becoming more accessible to the parts of the University it serves, Provost Peter Salovey announced Friday.

The reform, Salovey’s most significant since assuming Yale’s No. 2 position last October, addresses an issue that he said has long percolated among faculty and Provost’s Office officials. He said the change was on his agenda when he became provost, but he needed to take his first year to get settled and observe.

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“From the outside, the workings of the Provost’s Office can be a bit opaque,” Salovey said in an interview. “We are trying to rationalize the structure in a way that maps it better to the people we serve.”

The Provost’s Office is responsible for resource allocation, academic policy and faculty development. The office designs, vets or implements many of the policies affecting faculty members and students throughout the University.

But it often appeared that all the provosts were involved in all activities, and it wasn’t clear to faculty members which officer they should contact for what.

“We want to make it a bit more transparent who your go-to people are,” Salovey said.

The most significant change is the creation of a sub-office dedicated to faculty development, which will manage all processes, procedures, records and systems relating to faculty recruitment, appointments, promotions and leaves. It will be directed by Diane Rodrigues, formerly the senior deputy registrar for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She will report to Frances Rosenbluth, who succeeded Judith Chevalier as deputy provost for faculty development.

Rosenbluth, the former chair of the Political Science Department, moves full-time to the Provost’s Office this fall. She and Deputy Provost Charles Long will work together to oversee the social science departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Law School, Divinity School, School of Management and the Institute of Sacred Music.

As deputy provost for the University, Long will continue to focus on all matters of University policy affecting faculty and students.

Most of the changes amount to reshuffling some assignments and rewording several titles.

Lloyd Suttle, deputy provost for academic resources, will continue to focus on facilities planning, masterminding a complex network of musical chairs that involves renovations, construction and swing spaces across campus. Now he will also oversee most of Yale’s library and museum collections, and he will continue to support the deans of Yale College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences as well as the director of athletics.

Barbara Shailor, the deputy provost for the arts, will continue to lead the Arts Area Advisory Committee and is also going on assignment with the Office of Development to raise funds for the arts.

Deputy Provost Emily Bakemeier will oversee the humanities departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, but with the start of the 2009-’10 academic year will add the Schools of Architecture, Art, Drama and Music to her portfolio. She will now be supported by Associate Provost for the Arts Thomas Masse — who was formerly deputy dean of the School of Music — and by Assistant Provost for the Humanities Brian Lizotte, who was an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel.

Steven Girvin, the deputy provost for science and technology, and Assistant Provost Robert Burger work on science strategy, including the science departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the schools of Engineering & Applied Science and Forestry & Environmental Studies, and basic sciences in the School of Medicine and the Peabody Museum.

As of September, they are joined by Associate Provost Timothy O’Connor, who previously served as a professor and department chairman at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University. He replaces Bruce Carmichael, who is now deputy dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science.

Deputy Provost Stephanie Spangler has been appointed as the first-ever associate vice president for West Campus planning and program development, and will also continue in her role as deputy provost for health affairs. Along with Assistant Provost Cynthia Smith, she is responsible for the schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health, as well as a number of other health-related activities throughout the campus, including Yale University Health Services and Environmental Health and Safety.