Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1968 [PAGE 222]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

170

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[October

13

riculum plan for the program of the School at the Urbana campus. It is reported to the Trustees as a matter of information. Under the present plan, field activity is about equally distributed within the two-year curriculum, students spending two or three days a week in agencies of downstate communities. The new plan calls for the student to spend two sixteenweek semesters, primarily in study on the Urbana campus, followed by thirty-two weeks of field work with appropriate holiday vacations. The entire program would be completed in sixteen months instead of the present twenty months. It is expected that students will gain greater understanding of basic knowledge during their first year than is now possible. Only minor restructuring of class content is anticipated. No substantial changes in objectives of the curricula are involved. However, the plan would require year-round operation of the School. Greater efficiency in the cost of field learning operations, in terms of travel and time, is expected to enable the School to double enrollment without increasing field learning resources. The plan would be effective only for the Urbana program in social work. Although their objectives are similar, the Urbana and Chicago programs will retain the unique qualities brought about by their different environments.

This report was received for record.

CURRICULA A N D REQUIREMENTS FOR MASTER'S DEGREES, CHICAGO CIRCLE (8) In accordance with policies of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, as delineated in A Master Plan for Higher Education in Illinois, the Chicago Circle campus has initiated plans for offering the master's degree. The Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Board of Trustees have been informed of these plans and of the intent to propose the initiation of graduate study in September, 1967. During the past two years, several departments have been preparing programs for graduate study at the master's level. The initial step towards the development of these plans was taken in August, 1964, when an office of the University of Illinois Graduate College was established at the Chicago Circle campus. The appointment of an Associate Dean was approved by the Board of Trustees in May, 1965. Ten programs for the master's degree have been approved by the Graduate College, by the Chicago Circle Senate, and by the appropriate University officers. These are Biological Sciences, Chemistry, English, Geology, German, History, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, and Psychology. Requirements for these programs as well as enrollment projections and other relevant information are supplied in the following memorandum. Other programs are under consideration. The Executive Vice-President and Provost, the Dean of the Graduate College, and the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle recommend approval of the ten master's degree programs and degree requirements as summarized below. All of the programs and requirements, with the exception of corrections of minor inconsistencies relating to graduate credit, have received approval of the Chicago Circle Senate. The Senate Coordinating Council has indicated that no other Senate jurisdiction is involved. I recommend approval, subject to further action by the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Common Requirements for the Master's Degree With the exception of the form of graduate credit and matters relating specifically to the Urbana-Champaign campus, the requirements of the division of the Graduate College at Chicago Circle are as stated in the 1965-66 edition of the Graduate College catalog. References to Urbana-Champaign are replaced by Chicago Circle. Requirements involving graduate credit have been exactly translated from units to quarter hours as explained below. Following a recommendation by the Graduate College, the Senate approved the quarter hour as a measure of graduate credit. The requirements for the master's degree in quarter hours are exactly equivalent to requirements in units as stated in the University of Illinois Graduate College catalog, 1965-66. This equivalence is established by noting that one unit is by definition equal to four semester hours. Consequently, the eight-unit minimal requirement for the master's degree is forty-eight hours in the quarter system. Eighteen of the forty-eight quarter hours must be in courses numbered in the