News Release
Contacts: Robert T. Tad Perry, Executive Director
tadp@ris.sdbor.edu
Janelle Toman, Director of Information
janellet@ris.sdbor.edu

T: 605.773.3455
F: 605.773.5320
www.ris.sdbor.edu

For Immediate Release: Thursday, June 27, 2002

New Academic Programs Meet Workforce Needs

ABERDEEN – The South Dakota Board of Regents Thursday approved nine new academic programs to meet the needs of South Dakota’s changing workforce.

“Public higher education must be responsive to the economic climate in South Dakota,” Board President Harvey C. Jewett said. “South Dakota needs to grow its knowledge-based economy, and these degrees all position our graduates to take their place in the technological world of business, education, and industry.”

The new programs approved include both graduate and undergraduate degrees, as well as minors. Universities offering the new programs are:

• Dakota State University—minor in Computer Science, minor in Computer and Network Security, minor in Networking;
• Northern State University—Master of Science in Education in E-learning Design and Instruction, Master of Science in E-learning Technology and Administration;
• South Dakota State University—Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management with Specialization in Industrial Sales, Bachelor of Science in Safety Management, minor in Applied Information Technologies;
• The University of South Dakota—Bachelor of Arts in International Studies.

 The Regents also approved new certificate programs in photography (Black Hills State University); health care coding (Dakota State University); financial planning for family and farm, geographic information science, post master’s certificates for nurse educators and family nurse practitioners (South Dakota State University); and public health (University of South Dakota).

Except for the two new master’s degree programs at Northern State University, the programs approved Thursday were created without new state funding. “By building on system and campus efficiencies, along with careful planning and coordination, the universities are making these programs available within the existing higher education budget,” said Robert T. Tad Perry, executive director of the Regents. “These programs will be a real complement to workforce development efforts under way in South Dakota.”

Perry said the two NSU graduate degrees are part of the initiative to establish the Center for Statewide E-learning on the Aberdeen campus, first authorized in 2001 by the South Dakota Legislature and Gov. Bill Janklow.

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