Asbury launches associate arts degree program for 2008
By Zack Klemme, Collegian Staff
Originally printed in The Asbury Collegian, Vol. 92, Issue 9
Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007
WILMORE, KY—Asbury College has announced that a new associate in arts degree program will be offered, beginning in the fall 2008 semester.
Dr. Jon Kulaga, provost of Asbury College, said that the key thing about the new degree program is that it will be based on “the exact same courses we already offer now, and the exact same admissions standards.”
Kulaga said that the program passed unanimously.
“[The only] questions [were] largely related around technicalities concerning implementation, not the philosophical worthiness of the new program,” he said.
In order to complete an associate degree, students will have to complete 60 semester hours and retain a 2.00 cumulative grade point average.
Associate Academic Dean and Registrar Dr. T. L. Thomas, said the required 60 hours will consist of 39 hours of general education requirements and 21 hours of an emphasis from any one of Asbury’s 37 offered minors.
“There are two primary groups of students who will be interested (in the new degree),” said Dr. Sandra Gray, Asbury College president, in an e-mail interview. The two groups are students who really want to come to Asbury College, but we do not offer the specific major they seek and students who find it financially unfeasible to spend four years at Asbury College but wish to have an “Asbury experience,” Gray said.
The new program is designed to help students who transfer away from Asbury after two years continue their education at another school more smoothly, Kulaga said.
“There are a number of students who attend Asbury who cannot afford all four years, so they accumulate a number of course credits and transfer, but they don’t leave here with a degree,” Kulaga said. “As a result, the college they transfer to can pick and choose what credits they will accept or reject.”
Kulaga said that a student who completes an associate degree will be accepted at other colleges as a junior.
The associate degree program will also help students develop as adults and Christians, Gray said.
“We believe the first two years could be significant to provide spiritual, emotional and academic foundation,” Gray said. “It could be for some students that spending the first two years rather than the last two years at Asbury College would provide the greatest opportunity for growth.”
The two most important years of a student’s life are their first two away from mom and dad, when they’re making life-impacting decisions, Kulaga said. Having those two years spent at Asbury being their junior and senior years seems counter intuitive, he added.
“We would rather they start their college years at Asbury College and spend their freshmen and sophomore years [here].”
Thomas said that the new program won’t affect the curriculum, but would simply provide an additional option for prospective students.
Gray said she also believes that the new program should not affect the student demographic that Asbury attracts.
“The student demographic will not be altered, because we still maintain our traditional, residential program, and the students seeking the associate degree will be a part of the traditional program,” she said.
Kulaga said that the new associate degree will draw in college students who could not afford to attend a four-year school normally.
“I’m hoping when they are here for two years, and they have a class identity, they will find a way to stay for two more.” He added, “We’re increasing our ability to reach more people who haven’t been able to attend Asbury in the past.”
Thomas said that the new program must still be accredited and receive state approval, but that he believes that the program will easily meet those requirements.
Released: Nov. 14, 2007
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Tagged: majors, associate-arts, breaking-news and news
