Positioning Howard University for the Future:
Enriching Humanity through Teaching, Learning, Research and Service

January 29, 2011

1. From Academic Renewal to Transformational Change

Academic renewal is an open-ended process of continuously improving program quality. It is about building and shaping what Howard University will be, and about applying strategic priorities to the allocation of resources. Renewal is about assessing outcomes and using assessment data systematically for self improvement. When viewed in its totality, academic renewal must and will transform the university.

     The university has now completed more than three years of intensive self study including preparation for reaffirmation of accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the review of each of its degree programs by the Presidential Commission on Academic Renewal (PCAR). Taking into account our historic legacy and present circumstances, we have formulated a vision for the future. We have reaffirmed our commitment to strengthen our position as a leading research university, with faculty members who are producing scholarship and creative works at the cutting-edge of their disciplines and with students who are fully engaged in the intellectual and cultural life of our institution in an environment characterized by adequate resources and administrative efficiency. We have examined data reflecting the experience of students and faculty members in all our academic programs. We have identified strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities for program consolidation. All constituent groups now broadly accept the need for change to assure that all programs provide a high-quality learning experience for their students within a framework of academic excellence and financial sustainability.

      Howard University must respond to the challenges that are unfolding in higher education, particularly among doctoral-research universities with strong traditions of undergraduate and professional education and service to disadvantaged communities. As we proceed, we must also keep in mind that we have a number of other challenges that are specific to our university. These challenges force us to look closely at our entire range of academic degree programs and not just those that have been recommended for change. Academic renewal is broad and deep; indeed, it provides a plan for defining the Howard University of the future. Academic renewal can be nothing less than transformational change within the framework of the university’s historic mission if we are to continue to serve future generations of students, the nation and the world.

Guiding Principles

      The key operating principles governing academic renewal are:
  • Enhancing the quality of academic and research programs.
    Academic programs must achieve increased recognition for the quality of their contributions to advancing knowledge and promoting student learning.
  • Achieving increased efficiency and sustainability. Our limited resources must be used efficiently, and costs must be taken into consideration as spending decisions are made. Mindful of our past legacy and current mission, we must assure a future that is environmentally, academically, operationally, and fiscally sustainable.
  • Strategic planning. The university must develop unit-level strategic plans that integrate operational and financial factors and that provide the basis for allocating resources to the highest priority needs.
  • Students first. Decisions regarding every aspect of the university’s business must be made with a view toward their impact on students and the learning environment that supports student success.
  • Faculty development to support excellence. Our faculty must continue to grow professionally in the interest of assuring the success of our academic and research programs and support services.
  • Fostering a culture of teaching, learning and assessment. Assuring quality in our programs requires the university to continue developing performance metrics, gathering and interpreting data, making adjustments to current practices based on the findings, and holding everyone accountable for their performance in achieving identified goals and objectives.
  • Developing partnerships. Universities can no longer afford to operate entirely on their own, nor should they. We must continue to build on our strengths and form strategic partnerships with other colleges and universities, research laboratories, government agencies, corporations, and other organizations to enhance what we do well and to provide what is beyond our means.
  • Sustaining community. Howard University is a community with a distinct culture that combines the best traditions of the academy with the legacy of the past, the aspirations of current students, faculty members and staff, and the hopes of future generations. Every member of the community must contribute to the success of our collective mission.
Academic Vision
Howard University must be a research university offering degrees of the highest quality at the undergraduate, graduate and professional program levels. Academic and research programs will build strength in the following programmatic concentrations:
  • Internationalism, African American and African Diaspora studies
  • Entrepreneurship, urban education and leadership, and public policy
  • Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), environmentalism
  • Health wellness and healthcare disparities
  • Design, communications, performing and visual arts, and humanistic studies
  • Leadership development, and ethical development and social justice.
    Even as we strengthen the quality of our graduate and research programs, we must continue to offer undergraduate programs of high quality. Indeed, strong graduate programs will enable strong undergraduate programs and the two will mutually reinforce each other. Each of the final recommendations regarding individual programs is intended to strengthen one or more of the programmatic concentration areas.
Teaching, Learning and a Culture of High Expectations
Teaching must be of exceptional quality that enables all students to reach their full potential. Howard’s teaching and learning environment must expect and celebrate the hard work and joy of discovery and the attainment of understanding. There can be no substitute for systemic assessment of learning and using assessment data as the basis for continuous instructional improvement. Formative assessment and quality advising need to make the student who “falls throught the cracks”a rare exception to the norm.
Research
New emphasis will be placed on strengthening our research foundation in such key areas as the African Diaspora, public policy and urban education. What is more, selected areas within health sciences, such as health disparities, translational research and cancer, and the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) will be targeted for investment, with special emphasis on the physical infrastructure, specialized equipment, and technical and administrative staffing to achieve success. Research that lends itself to the support of external funding agencies will be particularly encouraged, but faculty and students in all fields and at all program levels will be expected to engage in research. The objective is to enhance the academic environment that supports socially responsible research that will address the challenges of the 21st Century.
Faculty

Faculty must continue to be productive scholars regardless of the stage of their career and be properly supported to achieve that productivity. All faculty members are expected to teach just as all are expected to be active scholars, although the nature of that scholarship may vary to include basic, applied, translational and pedagogical research and creative activity. Through both its intellectual environment and its compensation and tangible support, Howard University will achieve its goals of retaining and attracting high achieving faculty members.

    Students need close faculty interaction in advising and mentoring roles, and later in roles of shared inquiry and joint research both at the undergraduate and graduate level. While advising must involve course selection and ensuring that all requirements are met to assure timely program completion, students at all levels also deserve faculty mentorship. Our future success depends on assuring such a supportive learning environment.

Program Planning and Resource Allocation
Howard University must use its resources deliberately to achieve strategic goals. Resources must be allocated to address both immediate needs and the long-term quality of programs. We must invest in our faculty and staff, and maintain and modernize our infrastructure, equipment, and laboratories on an on-going basis. Colleges and schools and the departments within them will be asked to engage in a detailed planning exercise. A critical element of the planning process will be increased use of externally grounded metrics in evaluating program performance. Resource needs will be identified, and the university will prioritize the distribution of capital investments and operating funds to achieve strategic goals.

2. Key Areas of Emphasis in Academic Renewal

 Academic renewal involves much more than consolidating or closing selected programs and reducing the number of specializations in others. To achieve its purposes, academic renewal must guide change in many academic and operational aspects of the life of the university. As academic renewal evolves toward transformational change, continuous improvement supplants periodic review as the mechanism for assuring that all academic programs maintain the highest levels of currency, relevance and quality.


The Undergraduate Experience

In realizing Howard University’s mission, undergraduate programs must develop in students an appreciation for the accumulated knowledge of the academy, engage them in meaningful research experiences, and enable them to grow intellectually. They need to prepare citizens who are skilled in their field or profession. They should also motivate students to continue their education in a suitable graduate or professional program, including ones that are the most highly regarded in their fields or disciplines.

     As an important component of assuring the timely completion of undergraduate programs, the credit-hour graduation requirements for bachelor’s programs should be reduced to align with national norms. This will materially assist the accomplishment of an important university goal – significantly increasing the university’s four year graduation rate, while also reducing overall attrition.       

    Undergraduate programs must adopt a different mode of delivering instruction to achieve a more efficient use of faculty and classroom resources. This is reflected in the university’s current student to faculty ratio of approximately 8:1. This ratio is at the low end of the spectrum for research universities.1 Modestly increasing the student/faculty ratio presents the opportunity to enhance the best features of our pedagogy. Indeed, offering classes in lecture-hall formats, where pedagogically appropriate, will help to enable other classes to be offered in seminar or case-study formats. Until additional large lecture halls are built, reducing the number of under-enrolled classes, scheduling classes during evening and weekend hours, and monitoring faculty workloads will have a similar effect.2 Incremental savings from increasing the student/faculty ratio may be directed toward other strategically important purposes. We must take a more systematic approach to balancing critical masses of students against critical masses of faculty members and other supporting resources. We now admit more students into certain programs (such as biology, political science and journalism) than these programs can adequately support. Paying closer attention to the academic and career interests of the incoming first-year class will be a critical component of assuring that students achieve their post-graduate objectives in terms of graduate school, professional school, or a rewarding career.

1 At the University of Maryland, College Park, for instance, it is 18:1; at George Washington University it is 13:1 and at Georgetown University it is 10:1.2 Despite the common misconception at Howard University that the existing inventory of classroom and other instructional space is inadequate for present needs, a recent study has concluded that the university’s average classroom usage rate per 40‐hour week is approximately half of the national norm.

Undergraduate Studies during the First Two Years
A focused program in Undergraduate Studies will provide the educational foundation for every undergraduate. In its approach, delivery, content, and demands, it will introduce students into the intellectual environment of the research university. As recommended by the Presidential Commission on Academic Renewal (PCAR), a faculty-led task force will define the new Undergraduate Studies program. It should include components that will enable students to progressively master the full range of University Learning Outcomes; to become familiar with a number of essential academic disciplines in sufficient depth to discern its distinctive content, methodology and world view; and to experience multi- and inter-disciplinary learning and research experiences during which topical and real-world issues and problems are addressed.

Problem-based and experiential learning experiences will be critical. The most distinguished faculty should regularly teach in the Undergraduate Studies program, supplemented by teaching associates and assistants, and the full array of instructional support technology.
Academic Support
The Undergraduate Studies program must have the capacity to provide necessary academic support to all students who need it. This is illustrated by the 2009 and 2010 reports of Howard’s Office of Institutional Assessment and Evaluation which showed that, although students are aware of their need for additional assistance in foundational skill areas, their performance in certain introductory classes leaves room for improvement. During the Spring 2009 semester, for instance, fewer than one in four students enrolled in freshman-level algebra classes earned a passing grade.3 We must develop ways to help students succeed in a critical area where they themselves report the need for help.

3 For students’ perception of their needs in core areas, see “Technical Report for the 2009 Howard University College Student Needs Assessment Survey (CSNAS), prepared by the Office of Institutional Assessment & Evaluation in February 2009, available at: http://assessment.howard.edu/reports/CSNAS‐Technical‐Report‐2008‐2009‐Total‐Group.pdf. The results of final examination scores in the freshman algebra classes are reported in: www.howard.edu/selfstudy/supportingdocs/Chapter 15 ‐General Education/15.3 Spring 2009 Assessment of General Education in Quantitative Reasoning.pdf.

Academic Advising
The research literature clearly demonstrates the positive impact on student success of a comprehensive program of academic advising and personal and career counseling. For this reason, as PCAR recommended, a new advising framework must constitute an important component of the Howard University experience. The faculty role in advising will be complemented by a professional advising staff and student peers. The academic support areas affiliated with Enrollment Management (the offices of admission, records, and student financial services) will also have new responsibilities. Because of their overarching character, the university will consider establishing a separate administrative unit that has responsibility for Undergraduate Studies, student academic advising outside the major field of study, a “Black Male Initiative”, and a university-wide honors program. Support will also be provided for students in all undergraduate majors who are interested in pursuing further study in medicine, dentistry, law, or another professional training program.
Majors Fields (Concentrations), Minor fields and Electives in Years 3 & 4
Motivated by the university’s commitment to interdisciplinary learning and research, student interest and the broadly accepted trend to provide more flexibility in the structure of undergraduate education, and high student interest, additional alternatives for undergraduate majors will be considered. In one such model, a student might select a traditional academic discipline, an interdisciplinary concentration organized through a center or program, or an individually designed program of study. Faculty advisors will work closely with the student to design the overall program of study and the proper selection and sequence of courses.
Graduate Academic Programs
Graduate academic programs will emphasize doctoral training that will prepare the next generation of research scientists, scholars, public servants, and university professors. The recent survey of research doctoral programs conducted by the National Research Council in 2010 shows that there is considerable room for improvement in the university’s Ph.D. programs. Few performed strongly in comparison with all programs in their fields, and none operated at a level of national distinction.

4 Most of Howard’s Ph.D. programs are significantly smaller than those of nationally ranked programs, in many cases smaller by a factor of two or three. In light of the comparatively high cost of offering doctoral programs and the net new investment that will be necessary to improve the quality of selected doctoral programs, the university must devote careful attention to doctoral education over the next ten years. Responding to both the issue of program size/critical mass and program performance, graduate programs must review and then reduce the number of specializations/concentrations they offer. It is estimated that Howard’s average graduate class size is 5 students, which suggests that programs must grow in size to achieve critical masses of students necessary for achieving a more robust and challenging learning and research environment. The number of under-enrolled courses must be reduced.

To achieve the goal of improving the quality of doctoral programs, a centralized model is currently appropriate. A centralized Graduate School, functioning closely with the Office of the Provost, is necessary to identify new resources and to manage the distribution of internally reallocated resources. The ideal of greater program autonomy for graduate academic programs is one toward which we aspire, but only on the assurance that individual programs have the strength necessary to stand on their own.

4 See http://www.gs.howard.edu/NRC_2/NRCReport_2010.htm. Academic Analytics, a private company that collects data and does rankings, using a somewhat different evaluation methodology rates Howard’s Ph.D. program in Social Work as performing at a level of national distinction. Howard’s Ph.D. program in Communications Sciences and Disorders is rated as performing above the national median in its field.

Enhanced Expectations and Support for Doctoral Students

Graduate students will contribute significantly to fulfilling the instructional and research objectives of the programs with which they are affiliated. Graduate students supporting undergraduate instruction, for instance, will undergo virtual apprenticeships in university teaching. Beginning as graduate teaching and laboratory assistants in the Undergraduate Studies curriculum, they will conduct breakout sessions associated with large lecture sections. As they accumulate experience and demonstrate proficiency, their instructional responsibilities will increase commensurately. Graduate research assistants will follow a similar path of increasing responsibility corresponding with their advancing skill levels and experience. Over the next five years, the university aims to provide every doctoral student with a competitive stipend, tuition remission or both.5 Stipends for doctoral students are currently about 55 percent of those awarded at other leading research institutions. Many of our doctoral students receive no stipend at all.

Expectations for Graduate Programs

Graduate academic programs exist in a dynamic and very competitive environment, necessitating on-going adaptation to changing circumstances. On an on-going basis graduate programs must assess their performance including the specializations they offer and the foci of their research and grant-sponsored initiatives. To stay current, academic programs must address new developments in their field and between fields. This can be accomplished in a number of ways: the creation of new academic initiatives including new organizational units and degree programs; interdisciplinary efforts; and redirection of existing academic programs and research initiatives. Over time, degree programs that cannot reach required levels of excellence including a critical mass of faculty and students, requisite levels of scholarly productivity, adequate facilities, and sponsored grants and contracts (as appropriate), must yield their resources to other areas.

5 The Provost has stated the shift in focus towards doctoral education should be phased in as training grants and additional third party payers support doctoral students in the technical fields, at which point master’s students in non‐terminal degree programs (who presumably who are paying tuition from their own resources) will be correspondingly reduced.
Graduate Professional Programs

Graduate professional programs must continue to prepare graduates for challenging careers in law, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, business, education, social work and the fine arts, but with a renewed emphasis on those factors that are distinctive to the Howard University experience, including the commitment to ethically responsible professional practice, equality of opportunity and community service. The planning, academic goal setting and standards discussed earlier for graduate academic programs also apply to graduate professional programs. One point of difference is that the Presidential Commission strongly recommended a model for graduate professional programs that provides these programs with significant additional operational and fiscal autonomy.

      Such autonomy will place decision making concerning important issues in the hands of those people most knowledgeable about the unit’s issues and problems and who are the most directly affected by the speed and manner in which these issues and problems are addressed. Increased autonomy is intended to encourage innovation in revenue generation, operational review and cost reduction. Most of the benefit that accrues from carefully managing program needs to available resources should accrue to the unit. As much as possible within university-wide strategic considerations, the university should enable a flow of net revenues realized by most increases in net revenue and reduction in costs should flow back to the graduate professional program that accomplished such change. College/school and department fund raising, gift development, externally funded grant and research contracts, and tuition/fee increases consistent with preservation of access are all highly encouraged. At present, some graduate professional programs are better positioned than others to gain access to sources of operational support to supplement a base allocation from the university’s budget. Likewise, some programs are better positioned than others to raise tuition to a level more comparable with peer institutions as a means of generating revenue, while preserving access through additional and strategic use of student financial aid.

        The university’s policy framework will have to be revised to enable significantly greater autonomy, specifying which areas and to what extent localized decision making can be exercised. Increased authority and responsibility necessarily come with increased accountability. Operational autonomy will be selective, with many university-wide processes and procedures still remaining in force, while in other areas local discretion will apply. While over the years there will be significant devolution of authority to the unit, at this point university-wide policies and procedures will continue to apply in the following areas: appointment and promotion of faculty; salary ranges (though not necessarily individual salaries within a range); student tuition ranges6; the university calendar; and student disciplinary matters. Additional discussion and planning which will engage deans and faculty will be necessary to determine the precise areas in which programs will exercise autonomy and the transition to greater decentralization. As part of a phased implementation, the Schools of Medicine and the School of Law will serve as test cases.

3. Fiscal Implications of Academic Renewal

Revenue Streams
Pursuing the vision and implementing the plans for academic renewal and program transformation will require substantial resources. Every effort must be made to provide new revenue streams while enhancing existing streams. Of the University’s three major sources of revenue, the Federal appropriation cannot be predicted. It is determined on an annual basis solely by the Executive Branch and the U.S. Congress; tuition and fees are slated to grow as per the university’s long-term tuition strategy, but are offset by corresponding growth in student financial aid and increased operating costs for academic programs; and growth in patient service revenue needs to be directed to overdue improvements in facilities and operations in Health Sciences related to the generation of that revenue. Additionally, we must focus on building the portfolio of sponsored research while at the same time we must recall that realizing new revenue from external sponsors requires the continuing investment of university funds.7

6 The Board of Trustees reserves for itself the approval of tuition rates. The university has embraced use of a five year tuition plan to provide predictability for students and the university alike.

Reallocation of Fiscal Resources.
The mismatch between revenue and program needs requires that there be substantial reallocation of existing resources at all levels of the university’s operations. Simply put, the university must provide the operational resources to meet strategic program needs, both now and in the future. One class of examples may serve to illustrate what the university has done in the past and what must be done as it moves forward. Professional programs that are accredited by external, discipline-based agencies often find themselves falling short of one or more accreditation standards during periodic site visits of which the shortcomings relate either directly or indirectly to resources. Often the onetime infusion of funds to purchase equipment or refurbish space suffices. But increasingly the needs require substantial ongoing commitments of new resources. In such circumstances, the university is obliged to decide if continuing a program is worth the price. The external reference point of an accrediting agency brings such resource needs starkly to light. The university must have the courage to apply similar scrutiny to all programs.

A new approach to fiscal management must be developed, one that supports increased excellence in academic programs even as it enables investment in the future. Specifically, a significant portion of the University’s annual federal appropriation will be set aside and used strategically to address the needs of selected foundational programs and operations. Currently, the federal appropriation is used to support the University’s overall mission, essentially every aspect of its operations. Using a portion of the federal appropriation in a targeted way will strengthen the foundation that benefits all programs, while producing substantive examples of academic excellence. Adopting this approach will leverage the direct support that the federal government provides the University.

7Annual reports of the Center for the Management of University Performance, Arizona State University.

4. The Faculty Renewal Component of Academic Renewal

Three out of four of the University’s tenured faculty members are eligible to retire, with their age plus years of service equaling or exceeding seventy. In the Health Sciences, the proportion is nearly four out of every five. Although universities nation-wide are contending with an aging professoriate, the age distribution of Howard University’s tenured faculty poses a challenge. With or without an incentive plan, large numbers of the university’s most experienced and committed teaching and research faculty will retire over the next decade.

       The university will need to hire new faculty members with an equal commitment to Howard’s unique mission to renew the faculty and achieve the other programmatic objectives of academic renewal. They may be largely—but not exclusively—scholars in the early stages of their careers, and they will be expected to advance the pedagogical and research agendas of their home academic units. The university must be prepared to offer all faculty members the resources that will be necessary for them to succeed.

       Throughout the current academic year a presidentially appointed group of faculty members and administrators has been studying how best to manage what is essentially a generational change in faculty. One obvious challenge is the need for academic departments to maintain the smooth operation of their instructional and research programs through the transition. Careful coordination among departmental faculty and administrators, deans and the Provost and the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences will be essential for the success of this undertaking. The study group is considering a model for a voluntary phased retirement program that would allow faculty members to reduce their workloads over a period of up to five years. The development of a faculty compensation strategy covering the new hires as well as current faculty who do not retire must be a companion piece to the phased retirement plan.

5. Next Steps

As prior communications regarding academic renewal have suggested, the work of implementation has already begun. Apart from the revenue enhancements and cost reductions that have been identified, the work of organizing the faculty committees that will be responsible for revising existing curricula, designing the program in Undergraduate Studies, and selecting the focal areas for the inaugural group of interdisciplinary centers must begin immediately. A university-wide committee is about to begin work on an updated Faculty Handbook. A university-wide committee will be organized to recommend changes in university policy and procedures to enable greater operational and fiscal autonomy to operating units, particularly graduate professional programs. The university will review the investment priorities for new funds that are being sought to address capital improvement needs.

8 Over the coming months, plans will be developed and refined, with roles and responsibilities specified for deans and other academic administrators, faculty, staff, and students. The Provost and the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences will coordinate these efforts in their respective areas. The Faculty Senate and students, where appropriate, will play an integral part in each of these planning processes.

8 To include new buildings, labs and equipment, deferred maintenance, classrooms and other learning spaces, library resources and systems, technology and other capital goods

6. Conclusion

The process of academic renewal extends the university’s rich legacy into the future. The constellation of assessment measures, advising and mentoring services, research opportunities, updated facilities, and academic support will help assure student success and program viability. Faculty will lead the renaissance, energizing the classroom experience, producing new scholarship and creative work, and enhancing the overall intellectual and cultural climate of the university. The emphasis on enhanced quality and accountability will enable academic programs to remain current through the increasingly demanding years ahead. At the end of the academic renewal process, Howard will be a significantly enhanced culturally diverse, comprehensive, historically Black research university providing an educational experience of exceptional quality at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels to students of high academic standing and potential.
 
 

Positioning Howard University for the Future: Enriching Humanity through Teaching, Learning, Research and Service Final Recommendations

January 29, 2011

Academic renewal that leads to transformational change necessarily requires coordinated actions. In some instances these actions and their impact are largely local, but in general a change that is introduced at a unit level has repercussions that affect other larger segments of the organization. Indeed, many of the actions affect the entire university.

The following presentation organizes the recommendations associated with this stage of the academic renewal process by the organization level of their impact, beginning with the entire university and then turning to individual programs. As appropriate, the provisional recommendations made in September are identified.

University-wide

Academic Programs
Recommendation: The faculty of all departments must review and revise curricula to ensure alignment with contemporary best practices in their respective disciplines.  Academic programs at all levels must emphasize university-wide goals and objectives for student learning outcomes.
Rationale: Achieving quality in all academic programs.

Undergraduate Studies
Recommendation: Using a faculty-led process, revise the model for the delivery of undergraduate education.
Rationale:  Enhanced effectiveness of the delivery of undergraduate education, improve student learning, assessment, advising, retention and four-year graduation rates,

Graduate Academic Programs
Recommendation: Reduce the number of concentrations that are offered within graduate doctoral programs in accordance with enrollment trends and academic best practices.
Rationale: Streamlines doctoral offerings, eases fiscal and personnel demands on programs, and enhances the strategic focus of the university’s doctoral and research programs.

Africana Studies
Recommendation: Develop interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Africana Studies (including relevant components of the current programs in Afro-American Studies, Anthropology, Art, and Philosophy, as well as the programs in the humanities and social sciences in all the schools and colleges).
Rationale: Part of Howard’s core mission that will take advantage of Howard’s unique capacity for studies of continental and Diaspora populations.

Individual Programs

African Studies (B.A.)
Provisional Recommendation: Close the program.
Final Recommendation: Retain the BA degree in African Studies and collaborate with the proposed Africana Studies program.
Rationale: Part of Howard’s core mission that will take advantage of Howard’s unique capacity for studies of continental and Diaspora populations.

Anthropology (B.A.)
Provisional Recommendation:Close the program and include in a concentration within an interdisciplinary program or the Sociology program.
      Final Recommendation: Close the program and include in a concentration within the Sociology program or under an interdisciplinary center or program.
      Rationale: Retains instructional capability in a field rich with interdisciplinary potential, but limited faculty capacity. Permits the retention and development of the university’s anthropological projects (i.e., Cobb Collection, African Burial Ground, etc.).

Architecture (B.S.Arc.)
Provisional Recommendation: Restructure the program.
Final Recommendation: A proposal for the bachelor’s program in Architecture has been received. The faculty should submit the final proposal to the Provost ASAP.
Rationale: Enhances the strategic position of the School of Architecture with other related programs at the university.

ART Programs

Art History (M.A.)
Provisional Recommendation: Close the program.
Final Recommendation: Discontinue the degree and reposition relevant aspects of the program within the envisioned graduate program in Africana Studies and other related areas. 
Rationale: Retains instructional capability in a field rich with interdisciplinary potential.

Fashion Merchandising
Provisional Recommendation: Close the program.
Final Recommendation: Close the program. Develop concentration in the Design area (i.e. Fashion Design and Interior Design, etc.).
Rationale:  Enhances program focus, eliminates duplication and permits more strategic investment of available resources.

Interior Design
Provisional Recommendation: Close the program.
Final Recommendation: Close the program. Develop concentration in the Design area, (i.e. Fashion Design and Interior Design, etc.).
Rationale:  Enhances program focus, eliminates duplication and permits more strategic investment of available resources.

Biomedical Sciences (Graduate School and Medicine)
Provisional Recommendation: Reorganize the doctoral programs in the basic medical sciences into a single degree program in Biomedical Sciences. 
Final Recommendation: Reorganize the doctoral programs in the basic medical sciences into a single degree program in Biomedical Sciences. 
Rationale:  Enables the more efficient organization of programs and the use of resources for doctoral training and research in the basic medical sciences.

BUSINESS Programs
Hospitality Management (B.B.A.)
Provisional Recommendation: Discontinue the program and instead offer appropriate courses in the Management program.
Final Recommendation: Discontinue the program and instead offer appropriate courses in the Management program.
Rationale:  Enables concentration of departmental resources to strengthen the Management program.

Insurance (B.B.A.)
Provisional Recommendation: Discontinue the program and instead offer appropriate courses in the Finance program.
Final Recommendation: Discontinue the program and instead offer appropriate courses in the Finance program.
Rationale:  Enables concentration of departmental resources to strengthen the Finance program.

Classical Civilization (B.A.)
Provisional Recommendation: Close the program.
Final Recommendation: Discontinue the degree and reposition relevant aspects of the program within an Ancient Mediterranean Studies concentration as part of an interdisciplinary humanities cluster.
Rationale: Promotes interdisciplinary humanities programming with a critical mass of students and faculty that supports global outreach involving classics, philosophy, religion and related disciplines.

COMMUNICATIONS Programs
Provisional Recommendation: Close the program.
Communication Sciences and Disorders (B.S.)
Final Recommendation: Discontinue and focus on enhancing the graduate programs.
Rationale: Supports the emphasis on strengthening graduate programs.

Communication and Culture (M.A. and Ph.D.)
Provisional Recommendation: Close the program.
Final Recommendation: Close the Ph.D. program in Communication and Culture and integrate the faculty into a new department consisting of the current Mass Communications and Media Studies and Communication and Culture Departments.
Rationale: Strengthens the Mass Communication and Media Studies program.

Dance Program
Provisional Recommendation: Close the program and retain relevant courses within Theater program.
Final Recommendation: Retain the present concentration in Dance within the Theater program.
Rationale: Retains current strength in a traditionally important segment of the Fine Arts.

Divinity Programs

Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.)
Provisional Recommendation: Phase out the program in favor of a new Ph.D. program.
Final Recommendation: Phase out the program beginning in 2012. Develop a research-based Ph.D. Program in Religious Studies, with interdisciplinary components to include African American religious studies, ethics and public policy, biblical studies, and Islamic studies.
Rationale: Supports the university’s focus on doctoral research-oriented academic programming and responds to Howard University’s unique position to offer the degree.

Master of Arts in Religious Studies (M.A.R.S.)
Provisional Recommendation: Transition the program into a new Master of Theological Studies (M.T.S.) program.
Final Recommendation: Phase out the program beginning in 2012. Create a Master of Theological Studies program.
Rationale: Updates and enhances the curriculum of the master’s program to align it with that of peer institutions; emphasizes the school’s strategic focus on research.

EDUCATION Programs

Undergraduate Program in Human Development
Provisional Recommendation: Close the program.
Final Recommendation: Align with proposed new program in teacher preparation.
Rationale: Aligns with strategic initiatives in the area of urban education.

Graduate Certificate in Advanced Graduate Studies (C.A.G.S.), M.A., M.A.T., M.Ed., Ph.D., and Ed.D. programs in Curriculum and Instruction; Educational Administration and Policy; and Human Development and Psychoeducational Studies
Provisional Recommendation: Reorganize graduate programs.
Final Recommendations:
Curriculum and Instruction:
  • The department will offer two degrees: the B.S. and M.Ed. in education.
  • All M.A. and M.S. programs affiliated with the department will be discontinued
  • Retain the nationally recognized M.Ed. programs in early childhood education, elementary education, and special education and emphasize preparation of PK-12 teachers

Educational Administration and Policy

  • The M.A. and M.S. programs affiliated with the department will be discontinued
  • The M.Ed. and Ed.D. programs will be retained

Human Development and Psychoeducational Studies

  • The Ed.D. degree programs in counseling psychology, educational psychology and school psychology will be discontinued
  • The M.S. degree program in Human Development will be discontinued
  • A dual M.Ed. degree in School Psychology and Counseling Services will be developed
  • The CAGS programs will be discontinued
  • The B.S. degree in human development will be retained
  • The Ph.D. degrees in education with concentrations in counseling psychology, educational psychology and school psychology will be retained

Rationale: Aligns with strategic initiatives in the area of urban education.

ENGINEERING Programs
Chemical Engineering (M.S.)
Civil Engineering (M.S.)
Provisional Recommendation: Phase out the programs and reconfigure them within interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs.
Final Recommendation: Phase out the programs and reconfigure them within interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs.
Rationale: Supports the focus on doctoral-research oriented interdisciplinary programs in engineering and the STEM disciplines.

Health, Human Performance and Leisure Studies (Graduate School and Arts and Sciences)
Provisional Recommendation: Close the bachelor’s and master’s programs.
Final Recommendation: Continue to explore possibility of repositioning into the Health Sciences. Required undergraduate physical activity courses must be reviewed for their continued academic relevance.
Rationale: Continues the delivery of health-related curricula and programs.

HEALTH SCIENCES Programs
Health Sciences Management (Division of Allied Health Sciences)
Pre-Physical Therapy (Division of Allied Health Sciences)
Radiation Therapy (Division of Allied Health Sciences)
Provisional Recommendation: Close the programs.
Final Recommendation: Continue exploring possible collaboration with other area colleges and universities.
Rationale: Enhances effectiveness in the delivery of health-related curricula and programs.

International Studies
Recommendation: Create programs and centers for promoting international awareness and programs.
Rationale:  Increased interdisciplinary, curricular reform and faculty instructional, research and service collaboration.

Law (L.L.M.)
Provisional Recommendation: Close the program.
Final Recommendation: Retain the program within a new model in which professional schools are fiscally responsible for their programs.
Rationale: Enables the school to enhance its international visibility.

MUSIC Programs
Bachelor’s in Music Education (B.Mus.E.)
Master’s in Music Education (M.Mus.E.)
Provisional Recommendation: Close the programs.
Final Recommendation: Retain the programs as concentrations within their respective bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, B.Mus. and M.Mus. 
Rationale: Streamlines curricular offerings.

Nutritional Sciences (Graduate School and Division of Allied Health Sciences)
Provisional Recommendation: Close the undergraduate program and the graduate programs in Nutritional Sciences.
Final Recommendation: Merge the undergraduate programs; explore the feasibility of an interdisciplinary graduate program.
Rationale: Continues the delivery of health-related curricula and programs.

Pharmaceutical Sciences (Graduate School and School of Pharmacy)
Provisional Recommendation: Close the M.S. and Ph.D. programs.
Final Recommendation: Transform the programs.
Rationale: Supports interdisciplinary translational research, individualized medicine, and other research initiatives in the biomedical sciences.

Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, College of
Recommendation: Separate the School of Pharmacy from the College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences and rename it the College of Pharmacy.
Rationale: Enhanced effectiveness and accountability of the delivery of Health Sciences and STEM curricula and programs.

Philosophy (B.A., M.A.)
Provisional Recommendation: Close the B.A. and M.A. programs.
Final Recommendation: Retain the B.A. degree program offered within the Philosophy Department with a religious study concentration developed in collaboration with the School of Divinity and other appropriate programs.
Rationale: Enhances program focus, eliminates duplication and permits more strategic investment of available resources.

POLITICAL SCIENCE Programs
Political Science Master’s and Doctoral Programs (M.A., Ph.D.)
Provisional Recommendation: Reduce the number of concentrations.
Final Recommendation: Reduce the number of concentrations.
Rationale: Enables the department to reduce the number of graduate concentrations and realign resources accordingly.

Public Administration (M.A.P.A.)
Provisional Recommendation: Close the program.
Final Recommendation: Close the MAPA program and reconfigure it as an interdisciplinary Master of Public Affairs program (MPA) reporting to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Rationale: Responds to the university’s historic and unique public affairs role and student demand. Aligns strategically with the university’s Bunche Center, International Comparative and Areas Studies and Africana Studies public affairs related initiatives.

Pre-professional Education Programs (Arts & Sciences and Allied Health Sciences)
Recommendation: Enhance the pre-professional education of students who are planning to enroll in graduate professional programs in the health sciences.
Rationale: Enhances the effectiveness and delivery of curricula and programs in the health sciences.

SOCIOLOGY Programs
Sociology Master’s and Doctoral Programs (M.A., Ph.D.)
Provisional Recommendation: Reduce the number of concentrations.
Final Recommendation: Reduce the number of concentrations.
Rationale: Enables the department to reduce the number of graduate concentrations and realign resources accordingly.

WORLD LANGUAGE Programs
German, B.A.
Russian, B.A.
French, M.A.
Spanish, M.A.
Provisional Recommendation: Close the programs.
Final Recommendation: Close the programs.
Rationale: Enables the department to reduce the number of language degree programs and realign resources.