Academic senate approves new programs and program changes at last semester meeting
CMU holds academic senate meetings at 3:30 p.m every other Tuesday, in the French Auditorium of the EHC building.
At the last Academic Senate meeting of the semester, senators voted to approve three new programs and made changes to two existing programs.
New programs
First on the agenda was a creative writing minor. The new minor will become available in the fall of 2023 and require 24 credit hours.
Another new degree program is a bachelor’s of science in nursing.
“The major is designed for students to obtain their BSN degree, which authorizes the student to sit for the NCLEX – RN (National Council Licensure Examination-RN) to become a Registered Nurse,” according to the course description in the program’s proposal.
This program is intended to become available in the fall of 2024, but is subject to change based on class availability.
The last new program approved at the meeting is an applied forensic studies certificate. This program is through the departments of psychology, anthropology and philosophy.
“This 13 (to) 15 credit-hour undergraduate certificate is designed for degree-seeking students of any major who are interested in forensic studies,” according to the proposal.
Sen. Brad Swanson raised the concern that there are prerequisite classes required to take the high-level psychology and anthropology courses. He questioned whether the certificate would really be available to students outside the anthropology and psychology departments.
Because no one was present at the meeting who could address his question, Swanson was the only member who abstained from the vote, and the certificate was approved.
It is predicted to become available in the fall of 2023.
Program changes
The first approved changes were to the Doctorate in medicine.
According to the proposal, the courses were reassessed in preparation for approval from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).
“MED 797 was an elective developed for 2nd year students,” the proposal states. “However, only our 3rd and 4th year students take elective clerkships. Thus, this course was deleted.”
The other outlined change pertains to the options graduate students in the medicine program have, to complete their fourth-year requirements.
“The recent affiliation with Children's Hospital of Michigan provides us the opportunity to offer a Pediatric Sub-Internship to our 4th year medical students,” according to the proposal.
These changes were passed unanimously by the senate, and are planned to go into effect in the fall of 2023.
The other approved changes were to the bachelor’s degree in social work, which reduced the number of required credit hours from 124 to 120.
“This will bring the BSW degree requirements into alignment with other CMU degrees,” according to the proposal.
This change in required credit hours is intended to affect the degree program in the fall of 2024.
Academic Senate meetings are held from 3:30 to 5 p.m. bi-weekly on Tuesdays in the French Auditorium. Meeting livestreams and recordings are on the senate website. The first meeting of the fall 2023 semester is scheduled for Sept. 12.
