Six new academic programs were approved for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) by the Board of Governors (BoG) on Thursday through a new streamlined process.
PASSHE is currently undergoing a redesign process that is ensuring student success, utilizing university strengths and transforming the governance and leadership structure as its guiding priorities. The process will shorten the amount of time it takes for new programs to reach consideration for final approval while they still meet necessary standards, according to the press release.
“As we move to implement the system redesign, actions such as this one taken today not only will reduce some of the bureaucracy our universities must navigate; but, more important, will help our students by speeding up the process involved in getting new, innovative programs into the classroom,” said BoG Chairwoman Cynthia D. Shapira in a PASSHE press release.
The six new programs designed to address workforce needs are bachelor’s of science in statistics and data science at California University of Pennsylvania; bachelor’s of science in manufacturing engineering technology at Millersville University; bachelor’s of science in music business technology at Millersville University; master of arts in communications at East Stroudsburg University; master of business administration at Edinboro University and master of science in strategic communications at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
“Several of the programs respond to findings included in the supply/demand gap analysis conducted on behalf of the State System to gauge the current and future needs of employers across Pennsylvania,” the press release said.
These programs were created to prepare students for careers in high-demand fields that currently have job openings and not enough potential employees. Many of the programs are in response to a supply/demand “gap analysis” the State System conducted to determine what types of jobs employers neeed filled, according to the press release.
The programs will be introduced in the fall of this year.
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