 |
New
degree program is huge
winner for New North region,
tech-college transfers
New degree program is huge winner for New North region, tech-college transfers
Springtime greetings from Green Bay’s University of Wisconsin!
I write this only a few days after returning from a memorable fan experience
in Hartford, Connecticut (photo, right), where our women’s basketball
team did us all so proud in the NCAA tournament. (More on this topic,
and another — which involves a potential opportunity for Cyndie
and me — later in this column.)
When I returned from Hartford, it was just in time to see history also
being made on the academic side of our University. On March 21, the Faculty
Senate overwhelmingly approved the groundbreaking Bachelor of Applied
Studies (BAS) degree program.
This innovative program, which we hope to have in place for the fall semester,
will make a baccalaureate degree from UW-Green Bay much more accessible
for the thousands of Northeastern Wisconsin residents with technical college
degrees.
BAS students will be able to transfer associate degrees from technical
colleges into UW-Green Bay as blocks of 60 credits. They then will complete
60 additional credits that satisfy UW-Green Bay general education requirements.
This type of degree often is referred to as an “inverted”
degree because it emphasizes the technical major in the first two years
and the broader liberal education in the second two.
We still need the approval of the UW System Board of Regents, but I am
confident this program is just the type of initiative the Regents envision
for increasing the number of Wisconsin citizens with bachelor’s
degrees and for growing the state’s economy. When the Regents visited
UW-Green Bay a year ago, a number of them participated in a news conference
to announce that UW-Green Bay and UW-Oshkosh would receive state funds
to help develop BAS degrees.
It’s hard to argue with the need for this new program. Our region
has more than 150,000 residents with some postsecondary education, and
the region’s four technical colleges have produced more than 10,000
associate degree graduates in the last five years alone. However, Northeastern
Wisconsin lags behind the state and nation in the percentage of four-year
college graduates. Many of you are familiar with the alarming fact that
if Northeastern Wisconsin were a state, it would rank 49th in the number
of citizens with bachelor’s degrees.
The greatest demand for the new degree program likely will come from working
adults who have been in the workforce for a number of years. Many of these
individuals have looked to us in the past hoping to continue their education.
Discouraged by our inability to give them credit for previous coursework,
many have instead turned to the region’s private colleges to complete
their degrees.
Business leaders have told us they would encourage their employees with
technical college degrees to pursue the Bachelor of Applied Studies degree.
These leaders also have said the degree would enhance their employees’
prospects for promotion. So it’s clear that the BAS will offer new
opportunities for our region’s talent base to reach its potential.
|
|
I
often have been accused of wearing my heart on my sleeve for the University
of Wisconsin-Green Bay, but until my recent trip to Hartford I had not
yet worn a Phoenix emblem on my face. Thanks to pep band member Jaimie
Henschel, I joined the crowd with just the right look for an NCAA tournament
game. (Photo by University Communication intern Matthew Becker.)
|
|
