New plan aims to unify satellite campus programs

The Educational Policies Council approved a new regional college that would unify curricular programs offered exclusively at regional campuses at yesterday’s meeting.

The college was proposed in an addendum to last month’s meeting agenda.

Council members debated at length which programs should be considered exclusive to regional colleges.

College of Technology Professor Roberto Uribe-Rendon raised objections to the college’s curricular organization of technology programs.

“It’s troubling to me when you want to establish a curricular unit without a clear understanding of the procedures,” he said.

“I still have my problems going along with (the regional college), which is why I voted against it. But I feel comfortable because the programs of interest to me were removed.”

The council ultimately approved a motion to move those programs to a subheading of “Other Colleges and Schools,” but those programs will still be housed in the regional college.

Language pertaining to reappointment, tenure and promotions (RTP) policy within the new college was removed from the proposal altogether because the university’s RTP policy is still being revised by the Faculty Senate Professional Standards Committee.

Senior Associate Provost Timothy Chandler sat in for Provost Robert Frank, who was absent with the flu. Chandler said a paragraph stipulating that faculty will hold tenure in the regional campus system is unnecessary.

“That (RTP) language came from a much broader Think Tank conversation,” Chandler said.

The council also approved a “mechtronics” concentration within the mechanical engineering technology major.

The major yields an associate degree in applied science, which is offered at the Kent Ashtabula, Trumbull and Tuscarawas campuses, but the mechtronics concentration will only be offered at the Ashtabula campus.

The concentration will take 67 credit hours to complete.

Contact Faculty Affairs reporter Colin Morris at [email protected].