Faculty Senate approves flurry of academic options

by Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff

our new academic options and a cross-campus move were approved May 16 by the Faculty Senate.

     The senate gave the nod to a certificate in Cognitive Science, a minor in Information Technology, requirements for a dual master's degree, and an MS/MPH dual degree program in the schools of Nursing and Public Health and Health Sciences.

     The interdisciplinary, campus-wide undergraduate minor in Information Technology (IT) will be the first of its kind in the state's public higher education system. Undergraduate students in any major may apply.

     The minor, which is designed to produce IT generalists from many academic fields, will draw on faculty in a number of disciplines. Although generally minors are linked to specific departments, the IT minor will be campus wide, overseen by the Provost's Office.

     Pending final approval by campus officials and notification of the Board of Trustees and the Board of Higher Education, the program will begin in the fall, accepting applications from between 50 and 75 students. The senate approved the pilot program, which will require no new resources, for five years and requires a senate review of the fledgling effort in its fourth year.

     Growth of the program will depend on the ability to secure external funding.

     "It's imaginable that this program would have hundreds or even thousands of students wanting to get into it," said senate secretary Ernest May. "So the issues of support and the extent of enrollment and so forth should perhaps be reviewed. I'm sure the administrators will review it, but I think the deans as a group are taking responsibility for this program, which is great."

     The new certificate in Cognitive Science formalizes activity that is already occurring, said Psychology professor Charles Clifton.

     "The certificate is designed to recognize ongoing collaborations in research and in graduate training among several departments in cognitive science, and its goal is to recognize the fact that some students are taking multiple courses in this interdisciplinary field, to give them some kind of recognition and to help us attract new students here," Clifton said. "So we think the primary affect will be to advertise to the world that cognitive science is alive at UMass."

     English professor Arthur Kinney of the Graduate Council said that organizing a format for dual master's degrees does a couple of things. "On the one hand, it protects the integrity of each of the master's programs by keeping in place all of its requirements," he said. "On the other hand it does not penalize students who want to take a dual master's degree and not take more credits than they need to."

     Kinney said it was no coincidence that the motion to approve the proposed dual master's program in Nursing and PHHS followed the passage of the dual degree requirements, and he called it "one of the most complete and comprehensive and well-thought-out proposals" the Graduate Council had seen.

     Also endorsed was the transfer of the departments of Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administration and Sport Studies from the College of Food and Natural Resources to the Isenberg School of Management.