Story by ELLEN BECKER, Managing Editor—

The UCM Board of Governors approved a new Bachelor of Science degree in sport management at its Jan. 25 meeting. The new degree program, which must now be approved by the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education, will be offered by the department of nutrition and kinesiology to meet a growing demand by students, according to a press release.

The department of nutrition and kinesiology’s graduate sport management program has experienced some 300 percent enrollment growth over the last six years.

During the meeting, Department Chair Michael Godard gave a presentation in which he said that over the past 10 years, approximately 75 individualized undergraduate majors have been created in sport management to meet student demand, and 12 such majors were created in fall 2012.

Also during the meeting, the Board approved two program revisions, including a name change in the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology degree to the Master of Science in Speech Pathology.

According to Deborah Curtis, provost and chief learning officer, in 2005, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association changed its certification standards for audiology and required possession of a doctoral degree in audiology or a closely related area in order to instruct in audiology.

This changed the standard for an entry-level degree for audiology to a doctorate, which eliminated the purpose for a master’s degree in audiology. Therefore, the UCM communication disorders program received approval to no longer have an audiology program, and curriculum changes were made, but the program name was never changed to reflect the field standard.

The second program revision the Board approved was to the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science program in the department of mathematics and computer science to add more science hours to meet minimum science requirements of ABET, an organization in which UCM is seeking accreditation.

According to a press release, additional revisions in the program include a new game development option, which follows a national trend, and will help attract and motivate students. The changes must now be approved by CBHE.

At the end of the Jan. 25 meeting, the Board granted approval to give Governor Edward Baker emeritus status. Baker was appointed to the Board of Governors in March of 2007, and served through his term expiration date of Jan. 1, 2013.