The race to accredit new programs is on

With budget cuts looming over ISU officials announced the creation of two new doctorate programs in the College of Nursing, Health and Human Services (CNHHS).

Officials plan to hear the proposals for two new academic programs March 12. The programs will allow the college to provide a doctoral degree in both physical education and nurse practitioning.

The college recently proposed an academic program providing students with a Bachelor’s degree for physician’s assistance. The ISU Board of Trustees approved the program Feb. 12, and the accreditation process will start in June.

Richard Williams, the dean of CNHHS, said that because ISU is in the business of serving students and their needs, the new programs could potentially increase enrollment at ISU.

The programs are part of a prioritization plan that started five years ago to better suit the needs of students.

“You can’t look at this in terms of just this year,” Williams said.  “These are programs that have been in the planning process for some time and are part of the university’s standing prioritization plans.”

According to the Program Prioritization Taskforce Report of September 2006, the goals of program prioritization are to identify $2 million for reallocation to academic programs and to reduce the number of programs offered at ISU. The prioritization process includes the evaluation of programs based on qualitative and quantitative measures and a review of the way in which the general education program is offered.

The university has expectations that these programs will generate new students and new money that will more than pay for them in the future, said Jack Maynard, provost and vice president of academic affairs.

Unlike the physician’s assistant program, accreditation for the new programs will not be done by June, due to the relocation of offices to the first and second floor of the Student Services Building, which is part of the accreditation requirements, Maynard said. Each program has to go through a review process by a third party in order to be accredited.

Maynard and Williams were unable to specify if the programs will start in the fall of 2010.

“The university is excited,“ Maynard said. “These are the first major new programs in 10 years,” Maynard said.