A student town hall on January 13th in the Department of Political Science revealed some changes coming to students studying Political Science and Law & Society.
Dr. Alex Marland, the Department Head, revealed alterations to the undergraduate and graduate programs in the respective disciplines.
“Many of the courses we are offering are going to evolve – some new courses will be offered, some will have new numbers, some will have new titles. This is a very standard thing for departments to go through over-time,” said Dr. Marland.
In addition, it was announced that the Certificate in Public Policy will be phased out.
“The Certificate in Public Policy will not exist anymore in terms of admitting new students. One thing to keep in mind is that existing students have the choice between following a new route or following the existing route- Its actually opens up new possibilities so no one should be worried,” said Dr. Marland.
Likewise, the “Certificate in Public Policy” will change to a “Diploma in Public Policy,” requiring the completion of one additional course.
Dr. Marland explained that a diploma is closer to a degree than a certificate and better reflects the program.
Law and Society will also see a transformation as the program is changing to “Law and Public Policy.”
“It is no longer going to be an interdisciplinary program, in the same way Law and Society is, its going to be a departmental program the way political science is, the whole idea is to integrate it more and give it some stability,” he said.
Dr. Marland stressed that existing students would be able to complete their programs, and these changes will be for new students moving forward. Existing students, however, will have the option of moving into these new tracks.
The Senate Committee SCUGS will vote on these changes, which will likely be approved in February.
