Pre-Authorization: Notice of Intent
Pre-Authorization: Notice of Intent
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-SUPERIOR
Department of Health and Human Performance
CHILD DEVELOPMENT MAJOR
A. Name of proposed degree, institutional setting, mode of delivery, and institutional
contact information. Information on other required approvals to offer the program
beyond the BOR (such as accreditation bodies, including the Higher Learning
Commission) should be included.
Name:Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts in Child Development
Institutional Setting: University of Wisconsin-Superior
Mode of Delivery: The B.S./B.A. in Child Development will be offeredboth through face-to-face instruction as a campus program, and as an online major through the UW-Superior Distance Learning Center.
Institutional Contact Information: Faith Hensrud, Provost, UW-Superior, (715) 394.8449
External approvals: Approval of the Higher Learning Commission is not required. UW-Superior has HLC approval to offer 100% of its curriculum through distance learning.
B. Clear statement on how the program fits with institutional mission, strategic plan,
and existing program array.
The 36-credit Child Development major will prepare professionals to work with children across Northern Wisconsin. Changing State and Federal polices are pushing the field of Child Development forward. For example, federal Head Start programs now require teachers to have a bachelors degree, whereas Wisconsin’s new YoungStar system places heavy emphasis on the educational level of child care professionals. The major will provide a pathway to degree completion for early childhood and child development students wanting to transfer from two-year colleges, the vast majority of these students are not interested in Elementary Education as a major, which is currently the only related major available for students interested in working with young children. The Child Development major has been designed using existing courses offered by UW-Superior, requiring no new courses. The Department of Health and Human Performance offers more than 80% of the courses, and will be the home department for the new major.
The existing program array. UW-Superior has the following related programs: an Early Childhood Minor(21 credits), Child Life Certificate (30 credits), Community Health Promotion Concentration (51 credits), Physical Education Major (53 credits), and Exercise Science Concentration (53 credits). The new major consists of early childhood courses, health courses, and health and human performance courses, along with some elective courses in the social sciences and communication. There are no overlapping or duplicate programs at UW-Superior.Coursesfor the major are currently being offered on campus, and online through the Distance Learning Center.
Institutional Mission:The new major is consistent with UW-Superior Mission of fostering “intellectual growth and career preparation within a liberal arts tradition that emphasizes individual attention and embodies respect for diverse cultures and multiple voices.” UW-Superior has a long history of preparing individuals to guide the development of young children, beginning with the first Wisconsin program for preparation of kindergarten teachers in 1909. The program will meet the educational and career needs of students by offering preparation through an array of liberal arts and pre-professional courses for entry-level positions in Head Start programs, early childhood, infant mental health, administration, child protective services, human services, and related fields.
Strategic Plan: The new major reinforces the UW-Superior Strategic Plan in multiple areas. Academic Excellence is promoted by designing the major to be writing intensive (goal 1), and also by offering the major both on campus and through distance learning (goal 4). A culture of respect (goals 2 and 3) is supported through coursework in culture and family, philosophy, cultural anthropology, communication and special education. The major is part of an innovative and responsive curriculum based on a review of current trends that incorporates input from potential area employers (e.g., Family Forum, Inc.), community partners (Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College supports the program as an appropriate transition for their early childhood and human service students)and alumni, whom have long requested a degree in working with children outside of the traditional teacher certification program.
C. Program description.
The Child Development Major follows a traditional Biopsychosocial model of understanding child development. The Major offers students a set of biological health sciences, applied child development, and sociocultural courses to enhance their understanding of the nature and causes of typical and atypical development from conception through adolescence.
In a required core of classes, students will be provided with a solid foundation in physiology, child development, family and culture. Students will develop skills for working with children and families. As a writing intensive major, students will strengthen their writing and communication skills while enhancing their interpersonal and intercultural awareness.
Outside the core, students will have a menu of courses to choose from in both applied child development and cultural foundations. The selected courses are chosen to ensure that students will be educated according to UW-Superior’spublic liberal arts mission through engagement with a diversity of perspectives from multiple departments and programs across campus. As examples, students can choose coursework in Mothering from Philosophy, Interpersonal Communication from Communicating Arts, and Cultural Anthropology from Anthropology. All students are encouraged to complement their major with a minor that matches their interest and career goals. Possible minors include, but are not limited to,Health, Legal Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Anthropology or Sociology. All students must complete a capstone experience: coursework in administration, a program review andpresentation of their project.The curriculum and capstone will prepare students for careers in Head Start, Day Care Administration, Early Childhood, Protective Services, Infant Mental Health, Child Policy and Advocacy, Child and Family Services, and related fields.
In accordance with UW-Superior policy, the standard major will be a Bachelor of Science; students may earn a Bachelor of Arts by completing six credits in a foreign or indigenous language as part of their degree credits.
D. Need for program (brief description of programs in the context of local, regional
andsystemwide programs)
The Health and Human Performance Department is proposing the new Child Development Major because it is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of a rapidly changing community of diverse practitioners serving the needs of infants, children and families in the region served by UW-Superior and throughout Wisconsin. Currently, no university in the UW System offers a Child Development Major to specifically address the most challenging problems faced by young children in the State, including poor nutrition, child obesity, and stressors resulting from chronic poverty. Three universities offer Family and Consumer Science Major with an optional teacher certification (Madison, Stout, and River Falls), whereas two universities offer Majors in Human Development & Family Studies (Green Bay and Stout) and two offer Human Development & Family Studies with teacher certification (Madison and Stevens Point).
Rates of child poverty, fetal alcohol syndrome, and infant and early childhood mental health issues in northern Wisconsin exceed the state average. For example, Sawyer County has a child poverty rate of 32%, Bayfield’s rate is 28%, whereas the state child poverty level is 19%. Douglas County has poor birth-to-three outcomes in comparison to other counties in the region and in the state, with up to 60% of children in the program failing to meet stated goals for child development. Preparation of a new workforce in the biological, developmental, and cultural foundations of child development is urgently needed in northern Wisconsin.
Since UW-Superior has a rich and successful tradition of educating nontraditional aged students in the rural farming, mining and forestry communities of Northern Wisconsin through its long established and respected Distance Learning Center, the Child Development major will be offered fully online, as well as on campus.