First meeting yields goals for Fall 2008

Provost Robert Frank addresses faculty at the first Faculty Senate meeting of the semester. Frank talked about Kent State’s retention rate, forming committees for new dean searches and graduation policies. Elizabeth Myers | Daily Kent Stater

Credit: Ron Soltys

Starting next fall, students may be able to enroll in a new entrepreneurship major in the business administration program.

Faculty Senate discussed and agreed upon several changes to university policy in its first meeting of the semester yesterday. The senate agreed to establish the major and now the proposal will go to the Board of Trustees for final approval.

Richard Kolbe, chair of the marketing department, said the new major would give students an opportunity for practical experience.

“In their sophomore year, the students will have an entire academic year for starting a business and being invested in it as entrepreneurs,” he said.

Faculty Senate also granted LER basic science status to the Science of Human Nutrition, a course in the College of Education, Health and Human Services. According to the proposal, the introductory-level class offers an interdisciplinary look at an up-and-coming field.

John West, vice president for research and dean of graduate studies, updated the senate about Ohio’s Innovation Incentive Program, which has been going on for three years and calls for the reallocation of doctoral funding into scientific research areas.

The senate expressed concern about a proposal made last year to decrease the history department’s doctoral program funding as a result of this state-mandated reallocation process.

West said his statement to the Ohio Board of Regents in April did not discuss fields to take funds away from, but rather focused on two areas to invest in: liquid crystal science and bioscience and biotechnology.

After much discussion, the senators passed resolutions detailing their concerns about the overall process in general and its possible affect on the history department’s doctoral program in particular.

George Garrison, senator and professor of Pan-African Studies, said the state should not be able to dictate to the university what programs are important.

“It is important that we offer our voices, our decisions so that we can impact the decision-making process,” he said.

At the end of the meeting, Gary Padak, dean of undergraduate studies, presented a study about the possible implications of recent changes to Ohio’s core curriculum requirements for high school seniors, which include adding a year of mathematics and a more advanced science requirement.

He said Kent State may be forced to offer more remedial courses in the future, because placement in math and English college courses will also become standardized.

The changes will affect entering high school freshmen in the 2010-2011 academic year.

Contact academics reporter Kiera Manion-Fischer at [email protected].