MEMORANDUM
Revised, March 20, 2001
TO: Board of Regents
FROM: Joyce A. Scott, Deputy Commissioner for Academic & Student Affairs
SUBJECT: Level I Announcements & Approvals
This memo is to inform the Board of actions of other agencies that affect Montana higher education and to report the Level I changes in academic programs approved in the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education since the last meeting of the Board of Regents. I will be happy to answer questions about these changes.
The Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Colleges has reported that, at its December 2000 meeting, it took the following actions affecting Montana institutions:
- Reaffirmed Accreditation on the Basis of Full-Scale Evaluation for
Blackfeet Community College, Browning, MT
Carroll College, Helena, MT - Accepted Progress Reports from
Montana State University-Billings, Billings, MT
Montana State University College of Technology - Great Falls, Great Falls, MT - Approved a Major Substantive Change for Rocky Mountain College, Billings, MT for a
BS degree with concentration in Information Technology in an electronically mediated
format through a cooperative arrangement with the Montana Consortium (Rocky Mountain
College, Salish Kootenai College, Fort Peck College, and Little Big Horn College).
The U.S. Department of Education reported in its Closed School Monthly Reports for January and February 2001 that Maddios Hairstyling & Cosmetology College in Helena closed December 23, 2000 and that Education America-Denver Campus at 2520 Fifth Avenue South in Billings, MT closed on December 22, 2000.
Montana State University-Bozeman
Request to rename one of four existing options under the Ph.D. in engineering from Chemical and Materials Engineering to Chemical Engineering.
Request to authorize as options under the Ph.D. in engineering three disciplines where the M.S. degree is already offered: Civil Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. This realignment of the consolidated Ph.D. program in engineering is in response to perceived need for less specialized options to recruit students. No additional course, faculty or laboratory resources are required and the current administrative oversight will be maintained.
Montana State University-Northern
Request to initiate a clinical section (20 students) of the first year (Level I) of the Associate of Science in Nursing program at Lewistown beginning Fall semester 2001.
Currently, the College of Nursing operates two clinical sections (20 students) of the second year (Level II) of the ASN program at this site. This will bring the total number of students at this site to 40, and allow students to complete the entire ASN program, including general education, at Lewistown. No changes to the curriculum are proposed. Classes will be taught on-site at Lewistown with resident faculty at the campus, using existing classrooms and skills lab space.
University of Montana - Missoula
Request to convert the major in Latin to an option under the Bachelor of Arts in Classics. This action implements the decision of the Board of Regents in relation to the 1999-2000 program review.
Helena College of Technology of the University of Montana
Request to change the name of the Networking Option in the Associate of Applied Science Degree in Computer Technology to Network Administration. The new name, Network Administration will more accurately describe the course content of the option which prepares students to configure and operate Network servers and user account security.
Western Montana College of the University of Montana
Request from Western Montana College of revise its Literature and Writing B.A. Option revision to enhance program quality by replacing existing courses with new ones. The new courses are designed to better stimulate student interest and learning. There will be no net increase in the number of sections of upper and lower division courses being taught on an annual basis.
cc: Commissioner Crofts
Chief Academic Officers
Sherry Rosette