MLA degree moves to SCS

BY LINDA EVANS
Editor, RichmondNow

Students continuing with or starting a master of liberal arts degree at the University will soon be working through the School of Continuing Studies instead of the School of Arts and Sciences.

New seminar courses and summer classes are highlights of the newly revised program, said Patricia Brown, senior associate dean of academic programs for SCS. As before, the MLA degree program is geared toward part-time students. Most courses will be taught in the late afternoon or evening to better accommodate students who also work.

“We are committed to helping students in the pipeline,” said Brown. Current MLA students received letters in January advising them of the change and their options to continue under the new or old program.

Another letter—to SCS alumni who have not pursued a graduate degree—went out about the same time inviting them to enroll.

Brown said that after examining national models, SCS added three seminar classes to the MLA program. Students will take five required courses and select five courses around an individual focus. Beginning and ending seminars will be taught by A&S faculty, and students will be able to select their focus courses from among courses approved for graduate credit in both SCS and A&S. A maximum of six semester hours of transfer work may be submitted for possible inclusion in the student’s program.

Current MLA students will be able to enroll in summer 2009 courses, and new students will begin work in fall 2009, Brown said.

Brown emphasized that UR employees’ tuition remission benefit will continue to be available to fulltime employees pursuing the MLA degree.

Frank Eakin, professor of religion who has been serving as program coordinator for the degree, will continue in that role under the SCS model. He will meet with every MLA student to develop a learning plan and devise a focus, and he will teach the concluding course, “Seminar in Liberal Studies.”

“I appreciate the fact that SCS has embraced the program in the fashion that it has, and I am convinced that the students are going to have many more course options than have been available to them in recent years,” said Eakin.

He said the program is “an excellent example of cross-school participation in line with the University’s strategic plan.”