Academic program changes approved

Contact: Cheryl Roland

KALAMAZOO--On June 7, the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees approved the creation of a new graduate certificate program and the creation of five concentration areas within the doctoral program in science education.

Trustees approved the creation of a graduate certificate program in Spirituality, Culture and Health. The program is designed to be delivered online and to help health care workers understand and work with the connection between spiritual beliefs and clinical care outcomes.

The five science education concentrations created are in biological sciences, chemistry, geosciences, geography and physics. The changes are designed to benefit doctoral students and respond to the fact that many science departments are only hiring educators in disciplinary-specific fields and are reluctant to hire those whose degrees do not include the specific discipline name. Also, certain graduate fellowships at the National Science Foundation require degrees that include the name of the specific science specialization.