UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 3, Page 10                               
September 17, 1992                                             
Faculty Senate approves new physical therapy department        
                                                               
     The University Faculty Senate approved creation of a new        
Department of Physical Therapy Monday and moved a master's degree from        
the College of Education to the College of Business and Economics.   
     Approved provisionally for four years, the new degree is known as        
the Master of Arts in Economics for Educators. For 10 years, this    
degree was administered by the Center for Economic Education but     
awarded by the College of Education. Known as the Master of          
Instruction in Economic Education, it was designed to give practicing
teachers additional training in economics. The degree was one of     
several master of instruction degrees offered by the College of      
Education.                                                           
     The newly named degree, now located within the College of       
Business and Economics, requires 18-24 hours of economics courses and
is open only to teachers who have taught at least three years.       
     Before voting to change the status of the physical therapy
program to a department, faculty senators raised several questions   
about the cost of the change and the wisdom of creating a department 
that offers only a graduate degree.                                  
     According to Director Paul Mettler, the physical therapy program
currently has 71 full-time students, approximately 45 percent of whom
earned their undergraduate degrees from the University of Delaware.  
Although now only 10 percent of the physical therapy students are    
Delaware residents, Mettler expects this percentage to rise to 25    
percent by next July.                                                
     Mettler indicated that space allocation issues involved in the  
program's separation from the School of Life and Health Sciences had 
not been resolved. Associate Dean of Arts and Science Heyward Brock  
indicated that the increased cost of adding another department would 
be borne by the College of Arts and Science. Although the physical   
therapy unit expects to offer a fee-for-service clinic that will bring        
in a "substantial" amount of money, Brock said the proposed clinic was        
not related to the request for departmental status.                  
     Sen. Edward Kerner said he was troubled by the creation of a       
graduate-only department, which he considered a "departure from past 
practices."  Brock indicated that the Department of Art Conservation 
had been created as a graduate unit, and Mettler said that about half
of the 150 physical therapy programs in the U.S. are graduate-only.  
     Reassured that the University could sustain the new department, 
the senate passed the measure.                                       
     In other business, David Smith was re-elected chairperson of the
Committee on Committees and Nominations.                             
                                        -Cornelia Weil