2:16 p.m., Sept. 11, 2007--At its first meeting of the 2007-08 academic year, the University Faculty Senate approved six dual master's degrees, making it possible to obtain simultaneously a master's degree from the College of Engineering and an MBA from the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics.

Because this is a joint degree program, both components must be completed and the degrees will be awarded simultaneously.

Included in the dual degree program will be the master degree of chemical engineering; the master of engineering: mechanical; the master of materials science and engineering; the master of science in mechanical engineering; the master of science in electrical and computer engineering; and the master of civil engineering. These are non-thesis master degrees.

Before the senate meeting, Provost Dan Rich provided the latest enrollment statistics. He said there are 3,600 new freshmen, 500 transfer students and 300 graduates of the Associate in Arts program who are now enrolled on the Newark campus, making it the largest freshman class in UD's history. There are 1,150 new graduate students and 50 new faculty members.

Rich also announced the start of a three-year review of the University's promotion and tenure procedures. “Many of these documents were written for a University that no longer exists,” he said, “much less the University we want to create.”

President Patrick Harker opened the meeting with a description of his first months as president and the announcement of a Strategic Planning Committee that will determine goals for the future.