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Last Updated: Oct 22nd, 2008 - 01:45:34 |
Students choosing to continue their studies may have the option to do so at Metro if President Stephen Jordan’s proposal to add master’s degree programs to the college is approved.
Jordan’s announcement to the Faculty Senate on Oct. 15 was met with a round of cheers and loud applause.
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Illustration by Colby Brumit (cbrumit@mscd.edu)
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The proposal to add graduate degree programs must first be approved by the Metro Board of Trustees, which will be presented with a formal proposal for the program at its
Nov. 4 meeting.
Should the board approve the plan, it would be the beginning of a lengthy process that would require getting the go-ahead from the Colorado Legislature before it could become a reality.
“Realistically, if everything goes smoothly, we’d be able to offer one or more graduate programs by the fall of 2010,” Jordan said.
Before making the announcement to the Faculty Senate, Jordan spoke with the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees and received positive feedback on the proposal.
Jordan did not specify if all programs at Metro would offer graduate degrees but did mention teacher education, criminal justice and social work as several examples of programs that have a good chance of being expanded to include master’s programs.
“It would be beneficial to our students to provide a seamless transition if they chose to continue their education. Also, as we work toward preeminence, graduate programs would help us obtain this status,” Metro spokeswoman Cathy Lucas said.
The addition of master’s degree programs came partly as a result of a recommendation from the Hispanic Serving Institute’s task-force report, which suggested that a graduate degree program would attract more faculty of color, a cornerstone to increasing enrollment among students of color.
“We are looking at models such as the California State University system and City College of New York that are urban/commuter campuses that serve a large number of students of color,” Lucas said.
Metro aims to double the Latino student population, from 13 percent to 25 percent in the next 10 years, as part of the overall HSI goal.
The exact number of new faculty or staff positions that would be added if Metro begins offering graduate degrees is not clear at this time.
“It’s too early to determine this, and it would be based on which department received approval to seek graduate status,” Lucas said.
Jordan said that the addition would support his plan to add 40 tenure or tenure-track faculty over the next seven years.
“Everybody is totally enthused, there is no question about it,” LiYing Li, chair of the criminal justice and criminology department, said. Jordan named criminal justice as one of Metro’s larger departments.
Li said she has already received letters from Metro graduates who have shown interest in the graduate program.
“We definitely see the growth for it and the demand,” Li said. “ Over the years, whenever a student graduates, if they want to go to a graduate program we send them on to DU or CU.”
Li spent the weekend writing a paper outlining why the criminal justice program at Metro would be a good choice for a master’s degree program.
“More and more, a bachelor’s is not enough. We see a huge demand for these professionals to come back to school and get a master’s.”
Li said the department now has to decide which specific areas the new program should focus on within the field of criminal justice.
“We have to make it workable for working professionals, one of Metro’s strengths, offering night and weekend classes so they can keep their jobs and attend classes.”
If the board approves Jordan’s proposal, it will begin discussion about which programs should be expanded and start working with those departments.
“We have not actively solicited proposals,” Lucas said.
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