ITEM
108-2802-R0900� ATTACHMENT
The submission
materials were prepared by Terry Munson, associate professor of business at
Montana State University-Northern and lead instructor for this new school
business administration program.
I.��������� BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In December of 1997, members of the Executive Committee of
the Montana Association of School Business Officials (MASBO) approached
MSU-Northern to discuss a certification program for members.� There had been a variety of certification
programs for their organization but none were currently maintained in an
ongoing program.� The initial meeting
discussed the possibility of such a certification process through
MSU-Northern.� Options for this scenario
were to have a simple Business Department Certificate program that did not need
Board of Regent approval or to develop the Board of Regent approved
program.� Course offerings for current
programs were given to the committee for their examination and certification
needs for the organization were discussed.�
The committee took this basic information back to their organization for
further discussion.
In May of 1998, a second meeting was held.� In their needs analysis, the MASBO group
discovered that the number of requirements they wanted for their program was too
great for a one-year certificate program.�
The discussion then turned to the possibility of an associate
degree.� The basic requirements
discussed were in two areas.� The first
area was the need for general business courses; the second area was a need for
specialized course-work for their school environment.�
The basic business courses in the current associate of
business degree were acceptable for the program.� There were some exceptions, however.� Three courses that were deemed necessary for their requirements
were offered only at the Junior (300) level or above.� When the actual course work was examined, the business faculty
found that the information MASBO needed was not required in the amount of depth
in a 300 level course.� We solved this
problem in two ways.� One course was
examined by MSU-Northern business faculty and found that the course could be
offered in a 200/300 format where the 200 level course would cover the major
text topics and the 300 level would have the in-depth information added to
it.� The other two courses were covered
by joining forces with MSU-Great Falls - College of Technology.� The COT was willing to provide two courses,
Risk Management and Technical Writing, for the program.� Marilyn Besich, Business Chair - COT,
discussed the two 200 level courses and the offering of these through the
various presentation techniques (i.e. Northnet) and will work with us for the
success of the students.� The specific
coursework required for the degree program is set out as Exhibit A.
In addition to the regular courses, there were several
topics that were identified as necessary for the daily work environment of the
school business people.� These
requirements will be discussed in a later section.
During the
summer of 1998, the associate degree concept was presented in an infant form to
the summer meeting of MASBO.�
MSU-Northern instructor, Terry Munson, presented the idea and held a one
credit continuing education seminar for the group.� Sixty-six members signed up for the seminar with twenty-two of
them registering for credit.� The
membership showed great interest and it was felt that the associate degree idea
should progress.� Since that time,
business faculty at MSU-Northern have been researching the special topics and
developing course descriptions and syllabi requirements for each of the
topics.� This program has been assisted
greatly by the willingness of current and retired school administrators to
speak with us about the requirements for the program.� These administrators have taught many of these topics as training
sessions for high school employees and are willing to provide much of this
information to the program as adjunct teachers.� Also, since the last meeting there has been a change in the associate
degree taxonomy as outlined by the Board of Regents and those changes were
incorporated into the program.
The proposed degree has been approved by the internal
faculty review process on the MSU-Northern campus.� In addition the provost and the chancellor approved the new
degree program. �That approval form is
attached as Exhibit B.
II.�������� PROGRAM INFORMATION
The mission statement for MSU-Northern states: Montana State
University-Northern provides an intellectual environment that fosters critical
inquiry, professional and technical competency, and social responsibility.� The A.A.S. in School Business Administration
complies with two of the concepts presented in that mission: professional
competency and social responsibility.�
Professional competency is seen in the ability of the students to be
educated in the areas of their work requirements.� The program provides an ongoing source for improving the skills
of school clerks.� The subject of social
responsibility would imply that we must be concerned with the needs of society
and must strive to improve that society.�
In this case members of that society came forward with a genuine need
for their improvement.� We can assist in
that improvement.
The program, as an A.A.S., is directly applicable to the
work environment of its target market.�
The target market for this degree is the membership of the Montana
Association of School Business Officials.�
This membership consists of 499 school clerks in the Montana K-12
educational system.� The proposed plan
calls for a cohort group of at least 20 members to enroll during the first year
of the program.� There are currently 24
members waiting to be members of that first cohort group.� The plan calls for a second group to enroll
during the following year.� After a four
year span there would be 80 students in the pipeline for this degree.� Membership in MASBO is constantly changing
which allows for an ongoing target market.
The assessment of the program would be an annual review of
the program.� The review would include
MSU-Northern business faculty, MASBO leadership, and the MSU-Northern
Provost.� There are several aspects of
the program that would be examined.�
These aspects would include:
a. meeting the needs of MASBO
d. enrollment
b. meeting the requirements of MSU-Northern
e. method of delivery
c. timeliness of delivery
f. cost of the program
The program would be especially examined in the fourth year
to determine the viability of the program continuation.
The impact of this program would come from the additional
enrollment of students.� Student enrollment
at Northern has fallen short of its goals for the past few years and, while
this program will not erase all the difficulties, the addition of eighty (80)
students by the fourth year would certainly help.�
Since this program is intended to be a distance-education
program, there should be no impact on student services.� The plan will be executed through the
distance education/ continuing education group at Northern.� This group consists of the Director, Janice
Brady, and her assistant Judy Oveson.�
It will not require the addition of any personnel in that department
because we follow an already established procedure for the offering of the
courses.� The biggest impact will
probably be on the library.� The request
of distance students for library material will undoubtedly increase.� However, we have found that the electronic
sources of the library and those of the Internet are meeting many student
needs.� Coordination between the
business faculty and the library personnel will be necessary to assess the full
impact.
The financial impact for this program is minimal.� Since the program will use courses that are
already transmitted via the Northnet system, there are no start-up costs for
the program.� The summer courses needed
for the program are currently figured under the allocation of summer credits
for the Department of Business.� Should
the need for summer courses exceed the allocation, adjunct faculty would need
to be hired at the rate of $500 per credit.�
This situation would occur if enrollment were much higher than
predicted.� The distance education
system meets the accreditation requirements of the Northwest Accreditation
Association and will continue to meet those requirements.
The relationship to other programs on campus will remain the
same since we are using mostly the same courses.� However, members of the School of Arts and Sciences have
background experience in some of the communication requirements for this
program.� Those faculty members will be
included on the list for providing summer classes.� The campus will also continue to provide the general education
course-work that is part of this degree.
The program also interacts with the Great Falls College of
Technology.� Some of the needed
course-work can be provided by the COT.�
They will supply a course on Risk Management and two communication
courses.� While there were no
discussions with MSU-Billings concerning this degree, many of our current
students are using MSU-Billings Internet courses to meet general education
requirements.� Transfer agreements
around the state will make this an option for the students in this degree as
well.� MSU-Bozeman agreed that they did
not have this option in their curriculum and thought it would be a useful
degree if students went on to gain a B.S. and then to enter Bozeman�s graduate
program on school administration.� This
must still be the case because the last two MASBO members that joined the
cohort group said they did so because their graduate advisor thought this would
be a good background.
There are no new requests for space, capital, or
equipment.� The biggest obstacle for
distance students is access to computers for class projects.� Most business classes have ongoing web page
contact with distance students and require either email or web-board activities.� One faculty member, Lanny Wilke, has
developed an Internet program sheet so all distance students can instantly see
which courses they have taken and those they must take.� Most of the distance students have simply
purchased their own computers and do not expect computer facilities similar to
on-campus computer labs.� The distance
students have also been very generous with their time and equipment and provide
access for those students who do not own a computer.
III.������� COURSES AND PRESENTATION METHODS
A:������� CURRENT COURSES
The general concept for courses presented for this degree is
one of flexibility.�
The current courses (Designated with BUS prefixes) are
currently offered in three formats.�
They are presented as on-campus courses, as Northnet interactive
television classes, and as summer semester courses.� The Northnet system offers the ability for people in many areas
of Montana to have the courses offered at a local site and was generally
accepted as the method for presentation for the BUS courses.� Since these classes are already presented in
this mode it adds no additional burden on the faculty presenting the courses.
The current system allows for all business classes to be
offered over the Northnet system.� For
this degree it is only necessary for the Freshman and Sophomore level courses
to be offered.� But since these courses
are currently scheduled in the system it is no problem.
All of the 63 credits needed for this degree are intended to
be offered over Northnet.� However, some
general education courses are currently not offered in this format.� Distance students have been able to take the
general education courses as face-to-face courses at the higher education
institution closest to them or through Internet courses.� For the first year of the program, students
will follow the same procedure.� Thus a
maximum of 21 credits could be obtained in this manner.
The business courses offered via Northnet are identical to
other sections of the course offered on campus.� Most of the business courses have only two sections.� One is face-to-face; the other is a
combination of face-to-face (Havre campus) and distance format.� The faculty for the business program are:
Kevin Carlson, Associate Professor, MBA
Sandra Erickson, Assistant Professor, MBA
Terry Munson, Associate Professor, MIM
Brenda Skornogoski, Associate Professor, MBA
Lanny Wilke, Assistant Professor, M.Ed.
The BM prefix courses (College of Technology courses) have
been discussed as summer presentation courses.�
Discussions about Northnet distribution of these classes has also been
initiated.� Further refinement must be
developed with the faculty and administration at the COT.
B:������� NEW COURSES
The new courses proposed for the program (MAS prefix) have
been discussed as summer offerings or as special weekend seminars held
throughout the year.� These courses
become highly specialized to meet the needs of the school business officials
and we propose to use a variety of people who have taught or currently teach
these topics.� Many of the special needs
of this group have been spelled out in various documents from organizations
that monitor the quality of education in the state.� The Montana Code of Law, Safety Requirements for Schools,
Guidelines for Student Activities, Pupil Transportation, and Food Services are
some of the documents examined for this degree.� These documents were used to develop the specialized courses in
the program.� We have received much
interest from both active and retired school superintendents and principals who
have provided those classes.� The
coordination of these individuals and the availability of the courses will be
one of the main scheduling factors to consider, but so much cooperation has
already be shown it would appear that this will not be a major obstacle.
C:������� COHORT GROUPS
One concept that has been discussed for this degree is that
cohort groups be used to develop absolute times when courses would be available
for the group.� The initial discussion
has been to begin with a cohort group of 20 people and develop the course
presentation outline.� This route
appears the most feasible for presenting the needed courses on a timely
basis.� As of May 1, 2000, twenty-four
MASBO members have expressed a desire to begin the program this fall.
D:������� INDIVIDUALIZED DISTANCE LEARNING
Another idea that will support the presentation of this
program is the development of individualized distance learning packages.� These packages could include internet
courses, combined internet and Northnet presentation, videotaped lecture/project
combinations, and weekend class sessions.�
The adoption of any of the proposed presentation methods would increase
the accessibility for this program.
IV.������ TRANSFERABILITY
A.������� Transfer Of Courses Into The MSU-Northern
Program
1.�������� Transfer
into the A.A.S. program.� Northern has a
variety of articulation agreements with other institutions.� Courses matching those articulation
agreements will readily be accepted into the program.� The key requirement here is that residency requirements for
MSU-Northern must be met.
2.�������� Transfer
into the Bachelor of Science program.�
All of the BUS and ACCT prefix courses are part of the Bachelor of
Science in Business Technology program and will transfer directly to that
program.� The General Education core
will also transfer to the Business Tech program.� The other courses do not transfer to that program other than to
count as overall credits to reach the 120 credit limit.� All of the courses in the A.A.S. degree
would transfer into the Bachelor of Applied Science degree with a business
concentration.
B.������� Transfer of the A.A.S. degree to other
universities.
The Associate of Applied Science degree is not transferable
to any other university program due to the current definition of A.A.S.
degrees. The only possible method would be if another university would have a
Bachelor of Applied Science with a concentration in business.� In that situation, the decision as to which
courses would� transfer would not be
made by MSU-Northern.
V.������� STUDENT EDUCATION PLANS
Detailed student education plans cannot be provided,
however, the major points will be listed here.
1.������ Two year plan:
This plan would require that the student be a full time student taking 12
credits per semester for fall and spring semesters plus 9 credits in two summer
semesters.� This is not the target
market for this degree but the option must be available.
2.�������� Three year
plan: This program would require that students take 8 credits in each of 3 fall
semesters and 7 credits each semester during the spring and summer semesters.
Many students currently follow roughly this type of a schedule.
�
3.�������� Four year
plan: This plan assumes that a student cannot enroll for more than 6 credits in
any semester.� This program would take
11 semesters to complete.� It would
require a detailed plan developed by the program advisor and the student.� Many current students are following this
type of schedule also and this option is available to them.
4.�������� Five year
plan: Due to the ever changing nature of the business environment, it is not
recommended that students extend an associate degree to five years or
beyond.� However, some students are
forced into this scenario.� A
continually adapted plan would have to be developed���� in this case.
VI.������ SUMMARY
From the information provided above it is evident that a
great deal of time was given to this effort.�
The degree was formed to meet the needs of school business officials
throughout Montana, while following the degree taxonomy and residency rules
currently in the University System.
The program uses current courses to provide a foundation of
business skills and develops new courses to meet the specialized needs of the
program�s students.� At the same time
many types of presentation techniques are being discussed to give students even
greater accessibility to the program.�
Individualized courses and cohort groups are but two of the options
being discussed.
Transferability of an A.A.S. degree is somewhat limited
under its current designation but avenues are available for those students that
wish to extend their education beyond the associate level.� The Bachelor of Science in Business
Technology as well as the Bachelor of Applied Science is available for the
student.
As with any course offering, the planning of the degree
course sequence is a requirement.� Even
with a variety of options available it will take careful advising of students
to keep them on track in the obtaining of the degree.� Faculty advising will be the key to this procedure.
The Associate of Applied Science in School Business Administration
fills an expressed need in the Montana community and will be a degree that can
grow to meet the changing needs of that community.
Exhibit
A
MONTANA
STATE UNIVERSITY � NORTHERN
DEPARTMENT
OF BUSINESS
ASSOCIATE
OF APPLIED SCIENCE in SCHOOL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Required Business Courses |
Credits
|
||
|
|
|
|
BUS 100
|
Introduction to Business
|
3
|
|
BUS 110
|
Creative Problem Solving
|
3
|
|
BUS 130
|
Public Sector Ethics*
|
3
|
|
BUS 250
|
Business Statistics
|
3
|
|
MAS 232
|
Human Resource Management
|
3
|
|
MAS 268
|
School Law I*
|
3
|
|
MAS 269
|
School Law II (Finance)*
|
3
|
|
ACCT 261
|
Principles of Accounting I
|
3
|
|
ACCT 262
|
Principles of Accounting II
|
3
|
|
ACCT 270
|
Accounting for Non-Profit Organizations*
|
�3
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
30 |
|
�����������������������
General Education Core |
||
Fundamental Skills |
||
ENGL
111
|
Written Communications I
|
3
|
ENGL 112 |
Written
Communications II |
3 |
SPCH 141 |
Fundamentals of
Speech |
|
|
Or
|
3
|
SPCH 142 |
Interpersonal
Communication |
|
MATH 112 |
College Algebra |
3 |
CIS 110 |
Introduction to
Computers |
|
|
Or |
3 |
CIS 111 |
Integrated Business Applications |
__ |
|
|
15 |
|
|
|
General
Education Distribution Areas
|
||
|
||
Three (3) credits in each of two
distribution areas
(Major credits can be counted in one distribution area)
|
|
3
|
Selectives |
|
15 |
|
|
__ |
|
|
18 |
|
|
|
Total Credits for Degree |
|
63 |
Suggested
courses for area A distribution course
|
Credits
|
|
ENGL 128 |
Business and Technical
Communication** |
3 |
ENGL 124 |
Business and
Professional Communication** |
3 |
|
|
|
Business selective course offerings |
Credits |
|
|
|
|
MAS 104 |
Student Activity Programs* |
1 |
MAS 105 |
Pupil Transportation* |
1 |
MAS 106 |
Food Services* |
1 |
MAS 107 |
School Safety* |
1 |
MAS 108 |
Retirement System* |
1 |
BM 225 |
Risk Management** |
3 |
|
|
8 |
|
|
____ |
Advisor Accepted Selective Credits |
7 |
|
|
|
____ |
Total Selective Credits |
15 |
*�� New Courses
����������� ** MSU-Great Falls College of Technology
Courses
Exhibit B