Electronic edition, Vol. 1 No. 15, Apr. 9, 2008

Senators table decision on athletic training program

a photo from the Northeastern Faculty Senate meeting Faculty senators approved a number of new dual majors during their meeting April 9. FILE PHOTO / JIM CHIAVELLI

The Faculty Senate this week postponed a decision on suspending admissions to a longtime Bouvé College program.

At the behest of Interim Provost Stephen Zoloth, the dean of Bouvé, senators agreed to wait until they gather more information on the move to stop accepting students to the athletic training program in fall 2009.

The program admits 25 students per year, according to a group of current students who gathered at the Senate to lobby to keep the program.

Acting Bouvé Dean Jack Reynolds said there has been “a fair amount of discussion” about the move, which the college plans while looking at “strategic directions” for the future. Zoloth said discussions have been ongoing for “three or four years.”

Athletic training has “a long and very positive history” at Northeastern, Reynolds said. He noted that current students “will not suffer” if admissions are suspended in September 2009.

Suspending a program, Zoloth said, is “probably the most difficult decision a dean can make.”

Christopher Hopey, vice president and dean of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies (SPCS), where several officials said the athletic training program may ultimately end up, said suspending any academic program is “gut-wrenching,” but also said, “It’s the right decision.”

In other action, senators

  • Supported the offering of a doctorate in education by SPCS.
  • Backed adding a “reading day” to spring semester, to allow students to study for exams.
  • Supported a major in public advocacy and rhetoric, to replace the public communication major.
  • Supported three new dual majors, in multimedia studies and graphic design, multimedia studies and digital art, and psychology and education.