(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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UNI adds majors, restructures health departments to meet student, workforce needs [1]
['Eleanor Hildebrandt', 'More From Author', '- June']
Date: 2023-07
University of Northern Iowa students will see several changes between July 2023 and the beginning of the fall semester as the university creates a new department, school and two new majors.
UNI Associate Provost Patrick Pease presented these changes to the state Board of Regents at a meeting on June 14, where they were approved.
He said the two new bachelor’s of science in materials science engineering and in material science engineering technology pair well with existing engineering degrees while merging together various forms of study.
“The B.S. in material science engineering that we’re proposing is an interdisciplinary major that takes advantage of existing faculty expertise in material science from three of our departments: applied engineering and technical management, chemistry and biochemistry, and physics,” he said. “The program will emphasize the properties of metal, which is a core strength of the department of applied engineering and technical management and it will leverage our foundry science facilities and the resources of our new applied engineering building set to open next year.”
The 90-credit major will be offered in tandem with the 74-credit material science engineering technology degree, Pease said, which will provide a broad-based access to material science engineering and technology instruction.
“This technology program will share the core curriculum with the engineering program, but then takes a more applied, industry-based and manufacturing approach, leveraging our existing facilities and strengths in metalcasting and additive and subtractive manufacturing, especially in the areas of metal,” he said.
The programs will meet workforce needs in Iowa and across the country, Pease said, and will seek accreditation.
Both Iowa State University and University of Iowa officials provided feedback for the programs before the majors were presented to the board. Pease said the feedback was adopted.
Some restructuring in health departments
UNI is also consolidating its health-related programs into a School of Health and Human Sciences. It will be housed in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
“The purpose is to improve coordination and to help prospective students find the career options that they are looking for,” Pease said. “This administrative change will have no new programming except for the nursing major, which was approved by this body last November and will launch in fall of 2024.”
The changes will have minimal, but positive, effects on students, he said. No majors are being eliminated during the consolidation process. Redundancies will also be minimized in the administration of health majors.
Faculty-led initiatives were a driving force behind the changes, Pease said, to help students find support alongside their peers with similar majors or interests.
The programs in the new school include the Department of Family, Aging and Counseling; the Department of Kinesiology; the Department of Social Work; and a new Department of Nursing and Public Health.
The new department was also approved by the regents on June 14. Pease said aligning the two programs into one department will highlight them with related health care fields while streamlining advising and services.
“Beginning to build the department that will house that (nursing) program will ensure that we have the supports in place at the time students start the programs,” he said. “Public health is an existing program at UNI, currently housed in our College of Education and they’re excited about the transition into both a new department and a new school … The programs also offer a natural fit with their mutual focus on promoting well being and enhancing overall quality of life.”
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