New Academic
Programs Task Force
Update
April, 2013
Why was the New Academic
Programs Task Force formed?
 State funding continues to decline
 Enrollment growth essential
 UIS is at a competitive disadvantage in
recruitment because it has so few undergraduate
programs
 Task Force formed to make informed collaborative
recommendations for new program priorities
Task Force Structure
 voting members and non-voting support staff
 voting
•
•
•
•
•
4 faculty
3 deans
1 student affairs administrator
1 staff member
1 student
 college representation
 governance committee linkages
Members










Tim Barnett
•
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Beverly Bunch
•
•
Professor of Public Administration, College of Public Affairs & Administration
Chair of the Campus Planning & Budgeting Committee
Patty Byrnes
•
•
Associate Professor of Economics, College of Business & Management
Chair of the Committee on the Assessment of Student Learning
Jim Ermatinger
•
Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Rebekah Grosboll
•
•
Online Coordinator
Undergraduate General Education Advisor for the College of Public Affairs & Administration
Brian Kahn
•
•
Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, College of Education & Human Services
Member of Undergraduate Council
Linda McCown
•
•
Associate Professor of Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Member, Committee on Admissions, Recruitment, & Retention
Ron McNeil
•
Dean of the College of Business & Management
Will Miller
•
Interim Dean of the College of Public Affairs & Administration
Jinger Sanders
•
UIS Student
Support Staff

Cecilia Cornell
•

Tammy Craig
•

Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education
Ray Schroeder
•
•

Clinical Assistant Professor, Brookens Library
Director of Collections & Scholarly Communications for the Library
Karen Moranski
•

Administrative Assistant to the Provost
Stephen McMinn
•
•

Interim Director of Admissions
Monica Kroft
•

Director of Career Services
Lori Giordano
•

Faculty Associate, Provost’s Office
Associate Vice Chancellor for Online Learning
Director of the Center for Online Learning, Research, & Service
Aaron Shures
•
Associate Provost and Director of Budget & Financial Analysis
Background
 Call to faculty and academic professionals for ideas
 Focus on prioritizing new programs that require new
resources
 Does not replace governance process for curriculum
approval
 Task Force members encouraged to be innovative and
open to new ideas
 Process both creative and data-driven
Programs Considered






Close to 80 initial submissions
Additional suggestions received
Not all were academic majors
Some already under development
Some didn’t require new resources for start-up
Task Force members could add to list
Task Force Charge
 Develop a prioritized list of viable new academic
programs, at the undergraduate level, that will
contribute to enrollment growth and academic
excellence at the University of Illinois at Springfield
 Ideal academic programs will:
– provide preparation for occupations in demand at local, regional,
and/or national levels for the foreseeable future
– meet high demand from prospective undergraduate students
– fit well with the UIS mission, vision, and location
– contribute to UIS’ reputation as a premier regional university
– generate enrollment growth
Task Force Process
 Identified relevant factors & data needed
 Organized suggested program list
 Separated out program proposals not needing new
resources
 Reviewed relevant data
 Considered program possibilities
 Ranking of programs
 No program ideas discarded
Ratings, Ratings, & More Ratings
 Close to 80 suggestions were received from faculty,
academic professionals, and others
–
not all suggestions were clear majors or degree programs
 Task Force started with basic rating template
– tool for assessing collective view
– Evolved through five phases based on Task Force discussions and
suggestions
 Meetings involved review of aggregate ratings, data,
discussion
 No ideas discarded
Data Considered
 Admissions data on majors requested (student demand)
 State documents on higher education
 Reports from Springfield Chamber of Commerce on
economic development strategies
 Chicago plan for economic growth & jobs
 Linkages between majors and occupations
 Occupational outlook at state and national levels
 Salaries (by major, by entry-level positions)
 Regional competitors
 Preliminary cost/revenue considerations
 Relation to existing academic departments/majors
Short List: Tier 1
 Digital/New/Interactive Mass Media
 Finance: BBA Concentration
 Exercise Science/Athletic Training B.S.
 Health Services Administration
Short List: Tier 2
 Actuarial Science
 Ag Business: BBA Concentration
 Environmental Public Health
 Nursing R.N.; R.N. to B.S.N.
Some Unanticipated Convergence
 February 2011 Enrollment Expansion Retreat
Suggestions*
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Finance
Marketing
Blended MBA
Liberal Arts coupled with business curricula
Education (elementary ed/early childhood)
Media/journalism/digital media
Critical analysis (data analytics)
Environmental Studies
Public Health
Public Administration
*Suggestions in color were either independently advanced by an academic department
or also emerged from NAPTF’s work
What’s Next?
 Continue consideration of programs in top
tiers
 Consider campus community input
 Formulate recommendations for Year 1
program priorities for implementation
 Review list, consider possibilities, and
formulate recommendations for Year 2 and
Year 3
Comments?
 Share now or
 Send later to
http://go.uis.edu/NAPTFCampusComments
Want even more information?
 Check out the Frequently Asked
Questions link on the Academic Affairs
webpages at
http://www.uis.edu/academicaffairs/plan
ning/naptf/