Master’s in special education program no longer considered for elimination, consolidation

Analicia Haynes, Online Editor

The Master’s in Special Education is off the list for deletion or consolidation as of this morning.

Kathlene Shank, the department chair of special education, said she met with Provost Blair Lord, this morning and discussed the online program that has been in the making for the masters program since fall 2014.

She said after the administration recognized all the work being done for the master’s program including offering hybrid courses the last two years, they took it off the list.

“We’re ready to go fully online next fall,” Shank said. “We need to support this.”

Shank will present information about the online program at the Workgroup no. 8 meeting at 2 p.m. today in 2116 Blair Hall.

The program will be offered only in an online format so to make it available for students who are busy with careers or who cannot easily commute to campus.

Shank said the department has not advertised the online program yet because it was still working through the steps to complete the program but will plan to start advertising next month.

As for recruitment, she said the master’s in special education will heavily target former graduates and then market the program state wide.

She said the reason for targeting graduates is because they already believe in the special education program and have a solid background and therefore can build on what they already learned.

Analicia Haynes can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].