2008 Woodie Awards
Regional campuses hope to offer new bachelor degree program
Laura Houser
Issue date: 9/7/07 Section: Campus
The prospects are looking up for students hoping to earn a bachelor's degree at one of Miami University's two regional campuses.
Currently both campuses are moving forward on a plan to offer a general bachelor degree within the next few years.
According to Jeff Sommers, interim associate dean for academic affairs at Miami University's Middletown campus, the degree would not resemble the traditional Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree usually earned at four-year institutions. Currently, students at the regional campuses can only earn two-year degrees in majority of the majors offered.
With no specific "major," under this new offering, students would take clusters of similar classes focusing on generalized skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and communication.
The program would be interdisciplinary in nature, with students actively working to shape the thematic focus of their degree.
"There is much more input than your traditional bachelor's degree," Sommers said. "What it won't be is 64 accumulated courses. This isn't a complete free-for-all."
Plans for the degree, which Sommers said does not have a formal name yet, also include seminars, thematic sequences and capstones.
According to Sommers, the degree program would be a two-year program with 64 credit hours at the junior and senior level.
Sommers said it would primarily be geared toward students who have already earned an associate degree, however regional students with junior status may move into the program without earning a two-year degree.
Sommers pointed out that several neighboring universities also offer a similar degree at their regional campuses, such as Ohio University's Bachelor of Specialized Study.
The process of proposing this kind of program, Sommers said, has been long in the coming.
According to Sommers, the deans of the regional campuses, as well as top university officials, hired a consultant from the University of Central Florida to evaluate its campuses and provide recommendations for improvement.
Currently both campuses are moving forward on a plan to offer a general bachelor degree within the next few years.
According to Jeff Sommers, interim associate dean for academic affairs at Miami University's Middletown campus, the degree would not resemble the traditional Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree usually earned at four-year institutions. Currently, students at the regional campuses can only earn two-year degrees in majority of the majors offered.
With no specific "major," under this new offering, students would take clusters of similar classes focusing on generalized skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and communication.
The program would be interdisciplinary in nature, with students actively working to shape the thematic focus of their degree.
"There is much more input than your traditional bachelor's degree," Sommers said. "What it won't be is 64 accumulated courses. This isn't a complete free-for-all."
Plans for the degree, which Sommers said does not have a formal name yet, also include seminars, thematic sequences and capstones.
According to Sommers, the degree program would be a two-year program with 64 credit hours at the junior and senior level.
Sommers said it would primarily be geared toward students who have already earned an associate degree, however regional students with junior status may move into the program without earning a two-year degree.
Sommers pointed out that several neighboring universities also offer a similar degree at their regional campuses, such as Ohio University's Bachelor of Specialized Study.
The process of proposing this kind of program, Sommers said, has been long in the coming.
According to Sommers, the deans of the regional campuses, as well as top university officials, hired a consultant from the University of Central Florida to evaluate its campuses and provide recommendations for improvement.
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