On Mar. 6, the Michigan Technological University Senate convened for their biweekly meeting to discuss a range of unfinished and new business. The MTU senate is composed of chairs held by various faculty, and has meetings open to the public. The artificial intelligence (AI) working group gave a presentation to discuss how to better prepare students for a world that is increasingly using AI. Shane Oberloier, an assistant teaching professor in the ECE department and co-chair of the AI working group, said, “AI is seeping its way into every line of work, and so we would be doing a disservice to not be preparing students to use AI.” The working group is considering questions students may have such as, “What am I allowed to use AI for?” and, “Will MTU purchase an AI subscription?” On the topic of AI, later in the meeting the senate also voted and passed a new graduate certificate for “Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Business Information Systems.”
The senate also voted on establishing an M.S. in Wildlife Ecology & Conservation, which passed unanimously along with a minor in Water Resource Recovery Technology. Next, the senate discussed the ongoing topic of digital badging. According to the proposal, “Digital badging offers opportunities to bridge the gap between a higher education degree and employment. It provides a simple method for a learner to demonstrate specific competencies.” This proposal was previously tabled, but is now un-tabled and will see more deliberation in the future. The senate also voted on shelving three different programs. The first program to be shelved is the M.S. in Integrated Geospatial Technology (TGT). According to the curricular policy chair, Paul Bergstrom, “There has not been a large number of students who have pursued this particular master’s degree and shelving gives us a five-year window to decide whether we want to close out the program or extend that shelving.” The other two programs that were shelved were the Graduate Certificate in Geospatial Data Science and Technology (CGDS) and the Graduate Certificate in Post-Secondary STEM Education.
For more information on the MTU senate and/or meeting minutes and videos, visit, https://www.mtu.edu/senate/.
