Education emphasis

Board members will vote on a new early childhood education emphasis within the human development and family studies major.

The early childhood education emphasis would require students to take courses geared toward the education of children in the age range between preschool and third grade.

Students who complete these, along with an additional set of certification courses, will be recommended to the Utah State Office for Early Education Teacher Licensure to receive a license to teach within this grade range. The emphasis was recommended in part to comply with a provision of the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires all teachers in this grade range to have “early childhood education” appear on their university transcripts in order to be classified as “highly qualified.”

Financial planning emphasis

The new emphasis in financial planning for students in consumer and community studies is also designed to help students obtain an official state license. Courses in the new emphasis will help students become certified financial planners, and the words “financial planning” must appear as part of a student’s degree in order to qualify.

Entertainment and engineering emphasis

The emphasis is designed to prepare students for a career in digital technologies related to the gaming and animation industries, providing them with additional experience in computer science and the arts. Research by the fine arts department concluded that employment opportunities in these industries are greater for students whose degrees are focused primarily in one area, such as film studies, with some exposure to computer science, as opposed to students who have hybrid degrees that fully integrate these disciplines.

Namings

The board will decide whether to change the name of the Center for Integrated Design and Construction to the Integrated Technology in Architecture Center and whether to change the name and status of the division of film studies to the department of film and media arts.

New facilities at the University Hospital and the department of civil and environmental engineering will also receive names at the meeting. According to a memo on the film division renaming proposal, the change would reflect the growth of the division and raise its stature to bring it level with other departments on campus, as well as reflect the increasingly cross-disciplinary aspects of film education at the U.

Compiled by Chris Mumford

Source: The U Board of Trustees Meeting Agenda