Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1968 [PAGE 1049]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

1968]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

997

The number of persons who hold the Ph.D. degree in the history of art continues to be inadequate to meet the need for teachers in this field. Also affected by the national shortage of trained art historians, according to the study, are such "extra-academic professions as museum curating, periodical and art criticism, and commercial dealing. . . . " The Department of Art, in conjunction with the Department of Architecture, is now in a position to offer sound training for the Ph.D. degree in the history of art. The University first granted the master's degree in the history of art in 1948. The success of that program, together with library holdings of 129,000 volumes on the history and criticism of the visual arts, and the availability of the Krannert Art Museum and the Museum of Classical and European Culture support the recommendation. Degree candidates will be required to meet the admission standards and degree requirements generally prevailing within the Graduate College of the University of Illinois. A statement describing the proposed program is filed with the Secretary of the Board for record. The Chancellor at the Urbana-Champaign campus, the Dean of the Graduate College, and the Executive Vice-President and Provost concur in this recommendation. The Senate Coordinating Council indicates that no other Senate jurisdiction is involved. I recommend approval, subject to further action by the Illinois Board of Higher Education. O n m o t i o n of M r . H a h n , t h i s r e c o m m e n d a t i o n w a s a p p r o v e d . CURRICULUM PREPARATORY TO TEACHING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, URBANA (12) The Urbana-Champaign Senate recommends approval of a proposal from the College of Education for the establishment of a Curriculum Preparatory to Teaching in Early Childhood Education in the Department of Elementary Education. Over the past few years there has been an expansion of educational programs for young children throughout the United States as well as in the state of Illinois. The number of nursery school and kindergarten classes has been increasing in the country so that in 1964, according to the United States Office of Education, 4.3 per cent of the three-year-olds, 14.9 per cent of the four-year-olds, and 58.1 per cent of the five-year-olds were enrolled in nursery schools and kindergartens. Project Headstart, under the auspices of the Office of Economic Opportunity, has developed in the past two years into a massive preschool program for culturally disadvantaged children. The establishment of these programs is believed to be the beginning of a larger development toward providing earlier educational opportunities for all children. Recently, the Educational Policies Commission of the National Educational Association has recommended that education for all children begin at age four. The expansion of new programs of education for young children has created an increased demand for teachers especially prepared to teach children of this age. This demand is expected to continue and may even increase. The rapid development of early childhood education also has created a need for trained leaders in the field. Graduates of the proposed program would constitute a reservoir of supervisors, teacher education specialists, and directors of preschool programs. The present elementary education program prepares students for teaching from kindergarten through grade six. No specialized course work is available for these students in early childhood education. From a professional standpoint, it is believed that a total, integrated program is better for preparing early childhood teachers than the alternative of adding courses to the existing elementary education program. Graduates of the Early Childhood Education program would be eligible for certification as elementary school teachers under present certification regulations in the state of Illinois. Professional groups are now studying standards for special certification in early childhood education. The Chancellor at the Urbana-Champaign campus and the Executive VicePresident and Provost endorse this recommendation.