Excerpt from April 13, 2006 Faculty Senate minutes:

 

            Dr. Larson distributed IDC’s Preliminary Criteria for Additional Masters Programs and reported that IDC has been spending much of its time this year thinking about additional masters programs.  The issue was discussed last month at a faculty forum and the discussion was valuable.  IDC has also met with the Chancellor when she shared some of her thoughts about masters programs. 

 

            IDC’s Preliminary Criteria for Additional Masters Programs -- dated 13 April 2006 follows:

 

In a recent meeting the Institutional Development Committee (IDC) carefully read UNCA’s Mission Statement and concluded that “Additional Masters Program do not appear to be excluded by the Mission Statement.”  To say it differently, additional Masters Programs appear to be permitted by the Mission Statement.

 

In light of the above IDC has begun the process of formulating criteria to be used in identifying candidates for additional Masters Programs at UNCA.  The criteria below reflect IDC’s current thinking, thinking which will assuredly develop as further opportunities to comment are provided to the university community.  The criteria below are of the nature of necessary conditions, that is, all of the criteria would have to be met for a Masters Program to be seen as appropriate.  Here are the criteria:

 

A.  Masters Programs should enhance the undergraduate program.

      B.  Masters Programs should be interdisciplinary and not housed in a specific department.

      C.  Masters Programs should be programs of excellence that UNCA can do better than other universities.

      D.  Masters Programs should meet broadly defined community needs.

      E.  Masters Programs should hold promise of longevity.

      F.  No more than 3% (approximately 100) of UNCA students should be in Masters Programs.

      G.  Masters Programs should be financially self sustaining.

 

Once again, these criteria are preliminary.  It should not be inferred from this list that IDC now advocates the

establishment of additional Masters Programs at UNCA, rather, IDC simply holds that if there are to be additional Masters Programs, they should meet specific tests.

 

One additional consideration has weighed very heavily on IDC’s deliberations, namely, the perceived state of interdisciplinary programs at UNCA.  IDC senses that current interdisciplinary programs are under great strain and that too few full-time faculty are involved in programs such as Arts and Ideas and the Humanities (to name only two).  The ongoing implementation of the new ILS program is also highly interdisciplinary.  It seems prudent to address existing strains on undergraduate interdisciplinary programs before embarking upon additional Masters Programs.

 

Dr. Larson added that IDC envisions a university-wide process to identify a set of proposals of masters programs. With additional criteria for MLA programs considered as a group, a body would then determine what group of masters programs makes sense for UNCA.  Dr. Downes noted that IDC wanted balance and complementarity - these criteria came out of long, congenial conversations with the Chancellor, and she believed the criteria reflected the Chancellor's feelings.  Dr. Padilla announced that another faculty forum will be held May 3, 2006 to receive additional faculty input.