Committee hears two 'no-cost' program proposals; trustees defer recommendation pending details

Doctor Eric Smeller, presenting to the Student and Academic Affairs Committee on May 7, described two academic changes he said would carry no new institutional cost: a 4+1 accelerated pathway that lets qualifying undergraduates take up to four graduate courses during their senior year to accelerate entry into the MBA, and a new artificial‑intelligence concentration inside the existing Master of Science in Computer Science. "These are no cost enhancements," Doctor Eric Smeller said, adding the proposals moved through department, college and university curricular review including faculty senate and graduate council.

Trustees asked detailed questions about implementation. Trustee Therabidi asked whether the 4+1 pathway would change faculty workload and whether students would select MBA specializations within the accelerated track. Smeller said the pathway uses an existing menu of BBA and MBA core courses and that the proposal did not identify additional workload needs. On whether the AI concentration overlaps with the recently implemented data‑science master’s program, Smeller said the AI offering is a concentration within the MS in Computer Science and pledged to follow up with more detail.

Because trustees requested clarity on curricular mapping, program overlaps and other specifics, the committee did not recommend approval to the full board at this meeting. Board Secretary Brown and committee leadership discussed scheduling a follow‑up committee meeting so trustees can review the requested materials prior to a full‑board recommendation.

The item remains informational for now; Doctor Smeller said he will provide the requested documentation and return for committee consideration. The committee took no final vote on the substance of either academic change during the May 7 meeting.