Academic reviews keep content fresh, relevant

Provost Jason Keith gave council members an update on several projects in the academic affairs division during the Professional and Scientific (P&S) Council's March 5 meeting.

Program vitality review

As directed by the Iowa Board of Regents, the three regent universities are in the middle of reviewing their own academic degree programs, for alignment with state workforce needs and efficient delivery. In November and as part of that review, board staff shared a list of low enrollment programs (PDF), defined as 25 or fewer majors in an undergraduate program and 10 or fewer in a graduate degree program. The ISU list features 12 undergraduate programs and 35 graduate degree programs. Keith and his staff developed a shared governance model that involves impacted faculty and department and college administrators in the review and subsequent decisions.

Each of Iowa State's low-enrollment program eventually will take one of four actions:

• Request an exemption to the enrollment threshold because the program meets a critical workforce need for the state.
• Combine several under-enrolled programs into one to meet the threshold and offer multiple concentrations.
• Halt admission and phase out the degree program until current students have graduated.
• Request a time extension in which to increase enrollment above the threshold, with the expectation there would be a follow-up review within two years.

In cases of the fourth option, Keith said administrators will need to decide whether working to increase enrollments is how they want to focus their time and efforts. He said units are working through the university's normal review process for academic programs and that no decisions have been made yet. The regents have asked the universities to share a preliminary list of degree programs to be eliminated at their April 22 meeting.

Curriculum review for workforce and AI skills, by departments

Keith said he has directed all 60 departments to ask their faculty to review the required-for-a-degree courses they teach for whether (and where) they're adding "critical skills students need to be successful in the workplace," for example, communication, teamwork, professionalism, critical thinking. A second question asks faculty and departments where they're introducing artificial intelligence into their courses so students leave Iowa State with an exposure to it. Instructors still have the freedom to decide how they want to use AI in their courses, Keith said, but every degree program needs to include a few instances of AI use.

"As time goes on, we'll have to evolve our curriculum from a sprinkling of AI topics to develop student competency in using AI tools," he said. "Fluency is what's going to be expected from employers who hire our students."

Finally, Keith provided an update on Iowa State's process for being reaffirmed (accredited for 10 more years) by the Higher Learning Commission and the upcoming campus visit on March 30-31.

Other business

Council members elected officers for the year that begins in July. Among three candidates, Brian Rowe-Barth, who works as the budget and finance specialist for the veterinary clinical sciences department, was elected secretary-treasurer. Michael Boyd, a business systems analyst in the office of student information, ran unopposed for the president-elect position, which essentially is a three-year post. President and past-president years are part of the term. President-elect Christine Reinders, facilities and engineering services, Ames National Laboratory, will succeed council president Jennifer Schroeder, finance service delivery, this summer.

The P&S seminar series resumes on Thursday, March 19 (noon-12:30 p.m.) with a virtual presentation, "Supporting Iowa State," by two staff members at the ISU Foundation: Clarissa Boyd, associate director of student engagement, and Dana Savagian, associate director of annual and special gifts, in advance of the fifth Forever True Day April 1-2. Register to receive the link.