Academic Senate adds Theatre and Interpretation, Integrative Leadership Studies to BAA Degree


Senate Chair Swanson said provost search committee is currently interviewing candidates


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Senator Mary Schilling speaks during a meeting April 9 in the Education and Human Services Building's French Auditorium.

The Central Michigan University Academic Senate dedicated most of its meeting April 9 to discuss the bachelor of applied arts degree.

At the previous meeting on March 26, the Senate voted to set aside time to discuss the BAA degree and how it differs from the bachelor of arts and bachelor of science.

Past chairperson Melinda Kreth led the meeting because Senate Chair Brad Swanson was in Detroit to interview provost candidates. 

Swanson had a message for the Senate: “Based on the first day of interviews, we have a very good pool of candidates." He, along with President Robert Davies and other members of the provost search committee are interviewing semifinalists. Swanson said the committee plans to bring three to four final candidates to campus for open forums before the end of the semester.

After a 40-minute discussion about the BAA degree, the Senate approved motions to add two programs to the degree: Theatre and Interpretation and Integrative Leadership Studies.

Theatre Interpretation and Dance Chairperson Steve Berglund provided his reasoning for adding the program to the BAA. 

“Everything that we do is applied,” he said. “University Theatre is the co-curricular program in which all of these things are applied. You take a class in makeup, which, no pun intended, is applied. You take a course in stagecraft, you learn to build things, and then you apply that. All of these students are learning specified skills that are applied in the curriculum and in the field.”

Kreth began the discussion with a presentation about a BAA degree. She said it is not common in the U.S. but it is common in New Zealand and Canada. The definition she found after some research was that BAA degrees are to prepare students for a specific job or category of jobs. It is focused more on practical experience than research and academics.

The current description of a BAA in the CMU bulletin is, “this degree indicates achievement in one or more areas of applied knowledge.” 

Senator Mary Senter of sociology said the Senate needs a working definition of the BAA. 

 "I know some people argue that when you define something, you have to define what it is as opposed to what it isn't," Senter said, "but given we are trying to distinguish among these degrees, it might be useful to have, as part of the definition, 'this degree is not intended for majors in the traditional humanities, sciences and natural sciences.'"

Senator Scott DeBrestian of art and design agreed. Several years ago, the art history department wanted to add the program to the BAA offerings, but the Senate denied the request. He said it would have been helpful to have a definition with specific criteria to use as guidance when writing the proposal.

The concern at the previous meeting was that students were choosing a BAA degree to stay away from math and foreign language, which are requirements for the BS and BA.

“Within fashion and interior design, I would say the majority of students choose the BAA option,” said Senator Michael Mamp of human environmental studies. “One important component to remember about the BAA is it affords students the flexibility to choose a major/minor combination that best fits their career goals."

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