4.01 - 4.11 General Overview of Programs and Instruction
4.12 - 4.19 Undergraduate Degree Programs
4.20 - 4.25 Graduate Degree Programs
4.26 - 4.28 Scholarship and Research
4.33 - 4.41 Admissions and Retention

Salem State College offers Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs and two Certificates of Advanced Graduate Studies programs. The degrees which the College offers have not changed since the last NEASC accreditation. They continue to be Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Business Administration, Master of Education, Master of Science, Master of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing, Master of Business Administration, and Master of Social Work. There are six specialized Bachelor degree programs: Bachelor of Educational Studies, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts, Bachelor of General Studies, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Bachelor of Social Work.

Although the degree programs of the College have persisted throughout the past decade, several curricular changes have occurred: new Interactive Multimedia concentration and minor programs have been added to the B.A. in Art major, a Technology in Education program has been introduced in the M.Ed. degree, a C.A.G.S. in Business Management, an upper division program in Occupational Therapy and a B.A. in Spanish also have been approved. The B.S. in Office Administration has been phased out. In addition, the Economics program and department have been transferred from the School of Business to the School of Arts and Sciences.

The Undergraduate and Graduate School Catalogs, which are revised biennially, clearly specify the degree objectives and requirements in effect for each program at the time of publication. Programs are regularly reviewed and revised to meet changing disciplinary and accreditation standards. During the past decade strategic planning has been undertaken at the department, School, and all-college levels. These strategic plans have begun to guide the allocation of human and financial resources and are linked with the process of program revision.

In keeping with its mission to serve diverse and changing community needs, the College offers courses and sometimes degree programs at multiple sites within the Commonwealth and offers non-traditional scheduling formats. Undergraduate and graduate courses, for example, are offered in Melrose and Haverill as well as in Salem. During the past decade, the Graduate School has offered School Administration/Educational Leadership, Reading, and English programs in collaboration with the Cape Cod Center for Graduate Education. Faculty are hired by Salem State College, and students, who are admitted to these programs through established institutional procedures, meet the same requirements as other program-enrolled students. To accommodate student needs, some undergraduate degree programs are offered at night or on weekends through the Division of Graduate and Continuing Education. The College also offers some courses in week long Institutes at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Moreover, in recent years a few courses have been offered through distance learning technologies and this trend is expected to accelerate in coming years. Ensuring that courses offered at different sites and within non-traditional scheduling formats adhere to the same academic standards is an important consideration for faculty and academic administrators. The College recognizes its responsibility for the academic elements of all instructional programs and courses for which it awards institutional credit.

In addition to programs offered within the Commonwealth, the College provides several international educational opportunities for students. The College belongs to the College Consortium for International Education and to the Massachusetts Association of International Education and has an established relationship with Oxford-Brookes in England; these relationships have enabled students to study abroad in France, Scotland, England, and Ireland. The School of Business has established a collaborative program with Montpelier University in France. Special opportunities for short-term study abroad with faculty in Spain, Germany, England, Cuba, and India recently have been provided through the Foreign Language Department, the School of Social Work, the History Department, and the School of Education.

The nature of the College’s current funding structure presents challenges to planning and implementation processes. Since the state appropriation for the College have been essentially level-funded for the past decade, the College relies on fees to cover its program costs. The state does not provide any financial support for either graduate programs or undergraduate evening programs which must therefore depend on tuition and fees. Moreover, the College needs to strengthen its ability to link program development and funding. For example, new undergraduate programs have been introduced without clearly identified funding bases. The strategic planning process at the College needs to be more closely linked to budget development.

The College's Assessment Committee has developed recommendations for evaluating educational outcomes for the diverse programs offered by the College. Subsequent implementation activities necessarily will strengthen programs. The work of this committee is discussed in Standard II.

The College must also be prepared to respond effectively to state mandated reviews. With a nationwide focus on education, a required statewide review of the College’s education programs is anticipated within the next five years. For example, our School of Education Unit is undergoing a required statewide review and an additional accreditation review by NCATE in October 2000.

The College will continue to enhance its international educational opportunities for students. The value, indeed necessity, of cross-cultural experiences for twenty-first century living needs to be more widely recognized and additional opportunities developed for the College’s student body. The Center for International Education not only facilitates study abroad opportunities but provides opportunities for American students to interact with international students who come to the College to study from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Among the new course delivery systems envisaged during the coming decade are not only electronic technologies but also alternative off-campus sites for instruction. For example, the College anticipates the web-enhanced courses will supplement classroom instruction whether courses are offered on- or off-site. Finally, faculty will increasingly need to include new technologies in their instructional methodologies in the coming decade; the College is prepared to assist faculty in acquiring the requisite skills to incorporate those methodologies in their pedagogy.