2008 Woodie Awards
Majors and Minors Committee begins to Evaluate Programs
Established programs pass first review
Sherri Daus
Issue date: 2/19/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Lakeland College Biology, English, and Business Education Majors were the first programs to be reviewed by the Majors/Minors Task Force this year. The college, which currently has 34 majors, will be examining programs on a yearly rotating basis in order to ensure that students are getting the highest possible standard in education.
"Every month, two or three majors will be evaluated against specific criteria designed to ensure the highest quality. As division heads, we, Professor Linda Tolman; Dr. Mehreban Khodavandi; Robin Windsor and myself [English, Business Education and Biology, respectively], had to provide data and information regarding course enrollment, graduation track record, and fiscal information," said Kathy Rath-Marr, head of Biology.
Additional criteria includes evaluating how the program contributes to the centrality of Lakeland's mission- which can be found in the course catalog-, whether there are enough qualified faculty members to teach it, if the major offers a student as practitioner component, and how well the program meets market demands.
According to Rath-Marr, if a program seems deficient in any way, it may be modified or improved before the next review. This can include hiring more professors as several programs on campus have already done.
None of the three majors reviewed will be significantly changed in any way, with the exception of more assertive marketing for the Biology major.
Last year, the Task Force eliminated several majors; including theater, fine arts music and art administration, ethnic and gender studies, liberal arts, and philosophy. Students will still be able to take individual classes as part of another major. Every year the task force will review and evaluate 11 majors, which will be rotated every three years. Newer majors and programs will not be reviewed for a few years in order to give them time to establish themselves.
"Every month, two or three majors will be evaluated against specific criteria designed to ensure the highest quality. As division heads, we, Professor Linda Tolman; Dr. Mehreban Khodavandi; Robin Windsor and myself [English, Business Education and Biology, respectively], had to provide data and information regarding course enrollment, graduation track record, and fiscal information," said Kathy Rath-Marr, head of Biology.
Additional criteria includes evaluating how the program contributes to the centrality of Lakeland's mission- which can be found in the course catalog-, whether there are enough qualified faculty members to teach it, if the major offers a student as practitioner component, and how well the program meets market demands.
According to Rath-Marr, if a program seems deficient in any way, it may be modified or improved before the next review. This can include hiring more professors as several programs on campus have already done.
None of the three majors reviewed will be significantly changed in any way, with the exception of more assertive marketing for the Biology major.
Last year, the Task Force eliminated several majors; including theater, fine arts music and art administration, ethnic and gender studies, liberal arts, and philosophy. Students will still be able to take individual classes as part of another major. Every year the task force will review and evaluate 11 majors, which will be rotated every three years. Newer majors and programs will not be reviewed for a few years in order to give them time to establish themselves.