NMU to add seven new academic programs

Current and future Northern Michigan University students will have seven new choices for degree programs.

At The Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, three baccalaureate–paralegal studies, neuroscience and information assurance/cyber defense,and four master’s programs–higher education in student affairs, post-secondary biology education, clinical molecular genetics, and applied behavior analysis were approved.

“These kinds of programs sort of bubble up right within the department, and that happened for the most part with these programs as well,” NMU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Paul Lang said.  “So what happens is the department level faculty get together and talk about what they do, they look at their curriculum on a regular basis and they decide ‘Well we’re doing this but could be doing this as well’ and that’s how these programs start.”

Adding the programs will bring more options for current students, and will hopefully boost enrollment with students wanting to study one of the seven new programs.

“I just think this is very exciting,” Lang said.  “I think these programs are going to be excellent, I think they’re going to enhance our enrollment and enhance the opportunity our students have.”

“(The programs) will give students already here an option, but every bit as important as that, it’s going to provide us with an opportunity to attract new students as incoming freshmen or as new graduate students that we would not have otherwise gotten.”

All seven programs are expected to be available to students starting this fall.