Committee approves minutes, honorary-degree recommendations, program modifications and an endowed-chair appointment

At the March 6 meeting the Committee on Academic and Student Affairs handled a series of routine actions and recommendations to the full Board of Regents.

Minutes: Once a quorum was present, the committee moved and approved the minutes of the February meeting by voice vote.

Honorary degrees: Provosts from multiple campuses presented candidates for honorary degrees. The committee moved the full slate as a group and approved the recommendation to forward the nominees (including Kristen Fox, Sarah Gatsby, Bob Yamin, Christopher O'Connor, Mayor Justin Ellerker, David and Marilyn Foster, and Beth Bridal) to the full board for final action.

Endowed chair appointment: The committee approved the recommendation to appoint Michael Nicastro to the American Savings Foundation endowed chair in banking and finance at Central; the three-year appointment is funded through a foundation endowment with no direct budgetary impact on the university.

Program and curriculum changes: The committee approved a set of program modifications and below-threshold items to forward to the full board, including a modification to Central's B.S. in Electrical Engineering to permit concentrations and alignment with ABET accreditation; a name change for a public-relations certificate to "Public Relations and Social Media Strategy"; revisions at Southern (including an MS in Nursing Leadership and Administration and a rename of Communication Disorders to Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences); updates to a B.S. in Data Science adding database and deep-learning coursework; and a range of additional minor curriculum adjustments.

All motions described in the agenda were moved, seconded and approved by voice vote at the committee level; the committee recommended the items to the full board for final approvals where required by procedure.

Next steps: The action items will be considered by the full Board of Regents at its next meeting; campus offices will continue implementation work for the approved curriculum changes and the appointed endowed chair.