On Wednesday, Nov. 6, the Iowa Board of Regents met in the Maucker Union Ballrooms. Interim Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Professor Deirdre Heistad and Provost José Hererra presented four items regarding program termination and additions.

Termination of the Textiles and Apparel B.A.

The first item was the request for official termination of the Textiles and Apparel B.A., which saw its last annual catwalk on April 20, 2024. Professor Heistad mentioned that the program was initially created “as an industry responsive program providing a generalist foundation in the textiles industry.” According to the document provided by the Academic Affairs Committee, the program’s “declining student enrollment and faculty retirements” renders it unsustainable. Professor Heistad further stated that, “at this time, resources must be allocated towards programs with more evidence of growth.”

In the request to terminate, the document proposed to have the program terminated by December 2024. Three students still within the program are expected to complete their internships by this proposed termination date. Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee Jim Lindenmayer went on to recommend approval to the full Board.

New Program Request: Master of Arts in Education in Transformative Education (MAETE)

The next item addressed was UNI’s request to add two new programs, the first being a 30 credit hour program dedicated to an “interdisciplinary, non-thesis master’s degree.” The program, called the Master of Arts in Education in Transformative Education (MAETE) aims to “attract current teachers who desire to take on more responsibility and leadership in their workplace.” Professor Heistad notes that the degree program would consist of “stackable graduate certificates or endorsements.”

The program arises out of a post-pandemic culture, where traditional masters programs are seeing less enrollment. According to the request document for MAETE, this program will aim to combat the high rate of teachers leaving the field, noting that “school leaders aim to hire more highly qualified educators to meet the demands of their students. Although there are more teachers today than in the past, the shortage is intensified by teachers’ frustrations with frequent testing, inadequate systems for supporting students’ physical and mental health, and limited opportunities for community collaboration, among others.”

The document further states the need for a program like MAETE, citing student demand, workforce demand and its relationship to programs at UNI and other universities. The projected date for the program proposed is fall 2025, and is set to be offered online asynchronously. Lindenmayer again recommended approval to the full Board.

New Program Request: Master of Arts in Teaching

Professor Heistad introduced the second program addition request for a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT). The MAT is set to be a 35 credit hour graduate program, catering to students with secondary bachelor’s degrees who want to enter the education field. Heistad noted that the program will “include two professional internship experiences and student teaching,” which will meet the requirements for licensure. Like MAETE, the MAT program will be offered in an online format, as well as a hybrid format. Lindenmayer recommended approval to the full Board.

New Department Request: Construction Management

The last item on UNI’s Academic Affairs agenda was the request to add a new department for construction management. The department would be under the College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences (CHAS) at UNI. The current construction management program is under the Applied Engineering and Technical Management (ABET) department.

“By decoupling construction management from applied engineering,” Heistad said, “UNI can better promote and nurture each program’s distinctiveness, provide a more focused student experience and strengthen the marketing and recruitment opportunities for both programs.”

In the request document, the request notes that the creation of a new construction management department would not impact the established curriculum, and faculty within the construction management program will move over to the construction management department. The new department is set to be implemented on July 1, 2025.

Chair Lindenmayer recommended approval for the Department of Construction Management to the full Board.