Monday, April 20.1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 7
7
CLAS creates opportunity for special degrees
Continued from page 1A
writing so that they wouldn't have to be reinventing the wheel every time that a student expressed that interest," said Pam Houston, director of Undergraduate Services for the college.
The University does not really keep any official record of crime and delinquency studies graduates.
In fact, Arnold said, about 20 students like Hayden graduated last year with a diploma that said "special major." In reality, they were crime and delinquency studies majors.
"There's nothing on the database that makes any distinction between special majors," Houston said.
However, Houston said that crime and delinquency studies dominated the special major category.
"I would say that between two-thirds and three-fourths of the special majors are crime and delinquency studies students," Houston said. "Certainly the majority of students who get special majors are crime and delinquency studies students."
Detecting a degree path
Hayden always knew that she wanted to pursue a career related to criminal justice. Growing up, she enjoyed reading Nancy Drew books and playing Clue.
"I've always thought it would be fun to be a detective," she said. "I thought the whole idea of investigating would be neat. Trying to figure out who did it is kind of intriguing."
Hayden gained real-life experience in solving crimes during her internship at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. She talked to a hostage rescue team, solved mock crimes and worked with a task force for the attorney general's office.
"We got a unique insider's view of the ERI" Haydon said.
When she got to KU her freshman year, it took Hayden a while to discover the crime and delinquency studies program.
"There are a lot of people in the major, but it's not as public," she said. "You can't just open the course catalog and find out about it."
That's because in 1980 the Board of Regents denied a request by the University to make it a regular major. Arnold said that the proposal was approved by the University, but was stopped at the Council of Chief Academic Officers.
Wichita State University had a similar prox
gram, and it objected to a competitive program being established at the University of Kansas.
"The vice president in Wichita said that it was unwarranted duplication of their program," Arnold said. "They had the mandate from the Regents to be the only one in Kansas."
Hayden took criminal justice courses through the sociology department and learned about the program by word of mouth. She decided to double major in sociology and crime and delinquency studies.
"I just created my own major out of the options they gave me," she said.
Hayden said that she had experienced both advantages and disadvantages of the program. The strong points included being able to choose her own courses and participating in the internship.
But the special major also created inconveniences.
"Every move you want to make, you've got to have somebody approve it," Hayden said. "You also have to make sure you have the most current information."
She said she wished the program would develop into a regular major to provide a variety of faculty and staff resources.
"Although Dr. Arnold is very good, it would be nice to have more than one or two teachers in that department," Hayden said. "It's good because you develop a close relationship with the teachers, but it would be nice to have a wider range."
Arnold said he would try again to get the program passed.
Working for official status
"I've recently been encouraged by the dean of liberal arts to try to make it a regular major," Arnold said.
He has been moving the proposal through the college's various committees this semester and hopes to take it to the Board of Regents next fall.
raul Cromwell, director of the Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs at Wichita State University since 1997, said he had no objections to the University implementing crime and delinquency studies as an official major.
"The criminal justice system needs all the help it can get, so the more people who are getting degrees and entering the field, the better," Cromwell said.
The criminal justice program is one of five programs offered by the Hugo Wall
crime and delinquency studies
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has a special program set up for students interested in non-traditional majors. The Students work with faculty members to select their course work.
■ Crime and delinquency studies is an exception to the special major category, with a focused set of requirements to guide students through the program.
In the past three years, 36 new programs had been proposed to the Board of Regents and only one had been rejected.
- Between two-thirds and three-fourths of the special majors are crime and delinquency studies students.
School of Urban and Public Affairs. It serves 284 undergraduates and 52 graduate students.
Crime and delinquency studies has existed with its own committee since 1980. The program serves 40 to 50 students each semester.
Cromwell said that in the last two years the program had brought in about $1 million in government grants each year and that he expected those numbers to continue.
Meanwhile, the 15 students in special majors other than crime and delinquency studies at the University of Kansas must construct their own list of courses and find three faculty members to approve the proposal. They also must have a clear, cohesive objective.
Houston said that special major proposals were reviewed carefully to ensure that the program met certain requirements.
Arnold and six other faculty members compose the ad hoc committee which has developed a template, allowing students to choose classes from different categories. In addition to sociology, the major requires courses from departments including human development and family life, psychology, communication studies and political science.
"We are looking to make sure that the proposal the student has put together is an integrated program—an integrated set of courses, rather than just a hodgepodge of courses—that there's a theme to the proposal," Houston said.
Crime and delinquency studies is an exception to the special major category, with a focused set of requirements to guide students through the program.
So, what are crime and delinquency studies' chances of passing if the committee does try for the Board of Regents' approval? It's not clear.
Barb Conant, director of communications for the Board of Regents, said that universities should work together to examine where the concentration of interest in a subject lies and to cooperate on course offerings.
"The fact that there is an existing program would of course be considered when they look at the overall picture." Conant said. She said that in the past three years, 26 new pro-
She said that in the past three years, 36 new programs had been proposed to the Board of Directors.
As Arnold, 64, approaches retirement, he said that making crime and delinquency studies a regular program would eliminate complications for his successor.
"It's quite a bit of trouble for whoever coordinates things for it not to be in the catalog," he said.
It might be a difficult process.
"It's one of those things I'm finding very hard to do," Arnold said. "You get turned down once, it's hard to ask over again."
STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS
Workstation Office Spaces in the Kansas Union O&L Office for next year are available.
Registered Student Organizations may pick up an application in the Kansas Union at the Organizations and Leadership Office or the SUA Office on Level 4.
DEADLINE
Return Applications to the SUA Office by NOON on Wednesday, April 22.
THURSDAY, APRIL 23 $ ^{100} $ KANSAS UNION BALLROOM 8:00PM
FREE VOUCHERS AVAILABLE AT SUA BEGINNING MONDAY, APRIL 20th.
SPONSORED BY
KKI Departments of History, Germany, Italian & French Western Civilization, European Studies, Midwest Center for Holocaust Education; Tension Favoure tape in Memory of L.B. Berkwilz and Walter P. Berkwilz, Temple Binal Vuchadh, Aplla Della Gamma, Gamma PH Beta, Kappa Delta, Alpha Chi Omega, Sigma Kappa, Sigma DaTau, Zeta Keta Phi, Kappa Kappa, Alpha Mda Phi, Sigma MaPhi, Kappa Mta Theta, Cita Omega, Dai Cha