Chapter 1
Overiew and History

 

Academic Profile

As a comprehensive regional state university, SVSU is organized into five colleges: Arts & Behavioral Sciences; Science, Engineering & Technology; Business & Management; Education; and Crystal M. Lange College of Nursing & Health Sciences. The university’s 68 undergraduate programs of study lead to the following degrees: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Social Work, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Professional Accountancy.

The strong student and community interest in professional programs is evident at the undergraduate level. Three of the colleges (Education, Business & Management, and Nursing and Health Sciences), and several of the programs in Arts & Behavioral Sciences and in Science, Engineering & Technology, are geared to professional preparation. Traditional disciplines, such as biology and history, work hard to maintain an identity apart from the heavy service load they provide for both professional programs and General Education. This has implications both for the comprehensive mission of the institution and for the continued development of faculty within their scholarly disciplines.

SVSU also offers eight graduate programs that are primarily part-time professional programs to enhance and expand career development opportunities for students: Master of Arts/Communication and Multimedia, Master of Arts/ Leadership and Public Administration, Master of Education, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Nursing, Master of Science/Technological Processes, and Education Specialist. The sub-specializations within these eight programs bring the official count for graduate programs to 20, making SVSU a Carnegie Classification Masters I institution. Most graduate students attend part-time, often in the evenings, while working full-time during the day. Of the total graduate population, 83% is in the College of Education. (For a fuller discussion of Graduate Programs, see Chapter 5.)