Starting next fall, students will be presented with the opportunity to enroll in two new and unique graduate programs which could provide them with some real-life experience in their chosen career areas.

Western students have never had an opportunity quite like this in the past.
Western will be offering the Master of Applied Science (MAS) in Assessment and the Master of Applied Arts (MAA), which were recently approved by The Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education.

These degree programs consist of two options.

The MAA program options will be integrated media and convergent media.

The purpose of the MAA program is to prepare students for jobs in the Internet design and development industry, which is rapidly growing, and the changing world of journalism.

Dr. Kenneth Rosenauer, journalism professor and former chair, is aware of the tremendous power of the World Wide Web and how it is increasingly becoming the preferred medium for audiences.
“I see no end in sight for it,” Dr. Rosenauer said.

The options for the MAS Assessment will be learning improvement and writing.

These options will give teachers and literacy professionals the tools to assess student learning.

Dr. Jeanne Daffron, Assistant VP of Academic and Student Affairs, said that as programs like these two are developed, the school is responding to regional and national assessments.

“It always takes a while to develop a program,” Daffron said. “They had to do a lot of work considering what courses would be appropriate for this degree.”

The school evaluates where their strength lies and what needs are not being met, as well as the interests of students.

According to the proposal prepared by Western faculty, the MAA degree program is interdisciplinary and it is uniquely designed because it will emphasize applied learning in an integrated environment while providing opportunities for an internship and service-learning.
Teachers are very excited about the chance for faculty and students to interact in different disciplines to create digital media.

Dr. Kenneth Rosenauer is particularly enthused about this collaboration.

“Having more than one teacher will bring different perspectives and we [faculty] think that will be exciting as well,” Dr. Rosenauer said.

He believes this collaboration of faculty and students of different areas of discipline will cause people to be pushed out of their comfort zone, and when this happens, students will have a chance to grow.

“We [faculty] fully believe six years out from now, we’ll be graduating some of the best students in the Midwest in these areas,” Rosenauer said.