UPC #8 Senate #6 Approved 11-15-84 Request for Authorization To Plan a New Degree Program: Master of Liberal Studies The University of North Carolina at Asheville October 12, 1984 HEGIS Discipline Specialty Title: Liberal/General Studies HEGIS Discipline Specialty Number: 240101 Level: M Proposed date of establishment: January 1987 ___________ Description We propose that a new masters program in liberal studies be given authorization to plan in order to offer mature students a graduate degree which is interdisciplinary in nature and non-professional in intent, one which adheres to the humanistic values of liberal arts education, but at the graduate level. The proposed program coordinates exceptionally well with UNCA's mission: ___ _______ __ _________ __ ____ _______ __ ________ __ ___ ______ __ "to provide an education of high quality to students at all stages of _____ life". An MLS degree would provide a curriculum of graduate-level courses, incorporating materials from the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, to those students who recognize in themselves the need to develop the potentiality that professional programs and careers have left unstimulated. Those who find themselves dissatisfied with their educational background in liberal studies which in mid-career, or even when retired, would welcome such a program. An MLS curriculum would provide them with the structure, consistent stimulation, and reward which most people find necessary to achieving goals which are personally rather than monetarily rewarding. The direct aim of our program would be --as our __ _______ __ ___ ________ _ _______ __ ____________ _ mission states-- "to develop in all students a breadth of perspective, a ________ __ _____ ____ __________ ___ ___________ ___ __ _____________ __ capacity to think both critically and creatively, and an understanding of ___ ____ __ ______ __ _______ ___ _______ the role of values in thought and action." In developing this request to plan, we have investigated a substantial number of existing graduate programs in liberal studies. Since 1953, over 100 programs using various curricular models have been developed successfully at both small and large universities. (See attached list for examples.) All aim to give the students multiple perspectives on human problems, past and present; all are interdisciplinary in nature, integrating rather than segregating information and stimulation from different disciplines; all encourage the realization and incorporation of varying points of view concerning common subject matter. Page 2 The various approaches used by colleges and universities in formulating MLS programs can be categorized into three basic models: ___________________ ______ 1. "Oklahoma-Dartmouth" Model: includes an introductory seminar, followed by a 28-36 book reading list, with intensive examination. This is followed by three consecutive summer seminars in each of which students present research on a particular concentration (changes from first to third summer). The program is completed by a student's master's thesis or project. ____________ ____________ 2. Metropolitan Institutions most often build their programs around a series of weekly (or more frequent) evening seminars. This is most feasible for large, proximate student populations. ___ ___________ ___ ______ 3. "St. Johns/Santa Fe" Model: a Great Books approach, incorporating regular seminar meetings with individual student work on reading list and intensive examination. We would investigate which of these or other models is most feasible for UNCA. Let me provide some examples of specifics: 6-12 hours of most MLS programs are devoted to "core studies" --History of Ideas seminars or more _______ ____ ___ specifically designed interdisciplinary courses (such as Optics, Art, and ___________ __________ ___ ________ ___ ___ _____ ____ ________ ___ Philosophy: Appearance and Reality, How Man Copes With Disorder, and The ____ __ ________ Mind of America). The great majority of MLS programs requires 30-36 semester hours (or their equivalent), allowing up to 6 transfer credits from graduate institutions if such course work fits the contours of the MLS program. Of the total required hours, some schools offer a choice from a broad range of offerings. In a number of programs, the individual student is limited to 1 of 3 areas of concentration (humanities; social sciences; natural sciences), any of which presents thought-provoking readings and experiences meant to guide the student beyond the usual undergraduate limitations as to subject-matter, into an understanding of the interconections perceivable among all disciplines. For example: (Hum.): ______ __ _________ __ _______ ___ Images of Authority in African Art "investigate[s] the manner in which Sub-Saharan African peoples combine a broad diversity of materials, formal configurations, aesthetic criteria, and philosophical concepts to create art forms which validate and reinforce accepted --and changing-- forms of ___ ______ __ social and political organization." Or --(Nat.Sci.) The Advent of __________ __ ________ __ ______________ __ __________ _____ Evolution: An Instance of Transformation in Scientific Ideas, which investigates not only the scientific ideas involved, but also traces the "very broad shift in the way people looked upon themselves and society as well as the natural world. By studying this process, we can learn some important things about organized thought and about our own cultural heritage." ___ _____ Why UNCA? The University of North Carolina at Asheville has a fine liberal arts faculty, well able to establish and staff a successful MLS program. Our all-university requirements, most particularly our 16-hour Page 3 interdisciplinary Humanities Program, insure that all of our undergrduate students receive exposure to the liberal arts; these requirements are the backbone of UNCA's educational program. (The General Education review of these requirements being conducted at present will by no means diminish this essential structure, but will strengthen and reinforce the curriculum which attains, at an undergraduate level, the goals for which an MLS would strive.) At present, no public or private institution of higher education in North Carolina except for Duke University is currenty operating a program similar to that which we propose. _________ _______ __________ Potential Student Population The students we will attract are mature adults with inquiring minds and initiative. UNC-Asheville already has a large population of such students who, aware of gaps in their education, return to school either to seek a degree (often a second degree), or simply to seek knowledge. One-third of the population in our metropolitan area is over fifty-five, relatively affluent, well-educated, and attracted to the area by the quality of life available. Such a population should be ripe for an MLS program. Other indicators of the success of a well-planned and well-publicized MLS program include these: -700 students are currently enrolled in Continuing Education courses. 21 of the 46 Continuing Education courses now being offered have a liberal arts emphasis. In a recent survey done by Continuing Education, the great majority of students stated that they take these courses for "self-enrichment." -According to a recent survey of older (over 25) non-degree- seeking students, 44.3% choose a liberal arts area as their concentration (52% return rate on survey). -Increases in number of majors in liberal arts programs, 1978-84: ___ Art 29 - 50 ________ Classics 3 - 9 _____ Drama 13 - 28 _______ ________ Foreign Language 21 - 28 _______ History 29 - 39 __________ Literature 24 - 39 _____ Music 23 - 62 (1982-84) __________ Psychology 74 - 129 _________ Sociology 46 - 71 -["Degrees Awarded" chart on attached page] Page 4 ________ __________ Planning Procedures If we receive authorization to plan we will need to conduct a market survey addressed to a broad network of adults throughout Western North Carolina. (We would survey, for example, Continuing Education students, alumni, teachers' associations, American Association of Retired People, labor unions, service clubs, civic organizations, secondary school systems, professional associations, Junior League, AAUW, League of Women Voters library groups, church groups, large corporations, business and banking communities, public employees, senior citizen organizations and centers, ethnic organizations, college and university staffs, and farm associations.) The MLS Program would be planned by a task force of faculty and administrators; those departments in the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences will be represented. Meeting weekly, such a task force should be able to plan a strong program within the next three semesters. _________ Financing The MLS Program would be financed through state-supported enrollment. __________ Enrollment We estimate that 15-20 students will be enrolled in the program during the first year of operation. (Most --48%-- of the MLS programs now function are small -- between 17 and 60 students enrolled.) Page 5 (a chart on Bachelors and Masters Degrees Awarded is available in the Faculty Senate Documents) Page 6 GLSP Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Program Full Members Baker University in Kansas City Beaver College Brooklyn College The College of Saint Rose Dartmouth College Georgetown University Hamline University Hollins College The Johns Hopkins University Kean College of New Jersey Lake Forest College Loyola College of Maryland Manhattanville College Mary Washginton College Mercer University Metropolitan College of Boston University The New School for Social Research New York University Old Dominion University ???College of Annapolis & Sante Fe SUNY at Stony Brook Southern Methodist University University of Colorado at Denver University of Maine at Orono University of Michigan--Flint The University of Oklahoma University of Southern California Washington University Wesleyan University Xavier University Page 7 Associate Members Alaska Pacific University Bradley University DePaul University Duke University Duquesne University George Mason University Georgia Southern College The Graduate School & University Center Grambling State University Indiana University Indiana University System Keene State College Louisiana State University Louisiana State University at Shreveport Marymount College of Virginia Mills College Ohio University Oklahoma City University SUNY at Buffalo SUNY--College at Cortland SUNY--Empire State College Temple University Texas Christian University Towson State University Tulane University The University of North Carolina at Greensboro University of Pennsylvania University of San Francisco Valparaiso University West Virginia University Western Maryland College Wright State University