YSU seeks approval for doctoral program

Related story: Colleges see rise in enrollment

By HAROLD GWIN

gwin@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University is seeking approval to begin offering a doctor of philosophy degree in materials science and engineering degree that university officials say will be a major step in expanding YSU’s research programs.

“We’re ready for it,” said Martin Abraham, dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

The YSU faculty has increased its research activity to the degree that, to expand it further will require access to a higher academic level of student, Abraham said.

The university has very high-level, sophisticated research equipment, and the logical next step is to bring in a materials science and engineering doctorate program, he said.

It’s a major step in furthering YSU’s aspirations to expand research related to economic development in the Mahoning Valley, said David C. Sweet, YSU president.

Getting the degree will be the first illustration of the university building on its designated Centers of Excellence, Sweet added.

“It’s a key factor” in YSU’s state designation as an urban research university, said Peter Kasvinsky, associate provost for research and dean of graduate studies and research.

It will be YSU’s third doctoral degree, Kasvinsky said. The university now offers doctorates in physical therapy (DPT) and educational leadership (Ed.D.), but those are not considered research degrees, he said. The doctorate is considered to be the advanced research degree in higher education, and being able to offer it is a key to making YSU a research university, he said.

Implementing the program and its related advanced research will improve the university’s ability to attract research funding, Kasvinsky said.

Abraham said YSU would like to begin early admission for the first three to five candidates to the four-to-five-year program this fall, though final approval to offer the degree isn’t expected until spring 2011. The students would enroll knowing that approval of the degree is down the road, he said. Candidates with either a master’s or bachelor’s degree will be considered, he said.

The degree is under review now by the Ohio Regents’ Advisory Committee on Graduate Study, which will make a recommendation to Ohio’s chancellor of higher education, who must approve it.

Approval also will be required from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, an accreditation body that is expected to send a team to YSU to examine its facilities and academic credentials.

YSU’s own Board of Trustees must also formally approve the plan.

The degree is linked to the university’s Center of Excellence in Materials Science and Engineering as designated by the state, and the university believes it would fit well with the effort by regional economic development and planning entities to have the state designate the Youngstown region as an Advanced Materials Hub for Innovation and Opportunity. That’s a move that would support the regional growth in the materials area, according to the university.