YSU seeks more international students

By Denise Dick | February 20, 2015 at 12:10a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

In an effort to attract more international students, Youngstown State University officials are considering restructuring the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

That college would become the College of International and Public Affairs to reflect the new mission.

Paul Sracic, chairman of YSU’s political science department, said YSU ranks low among state universities for international- student enrollment.

“We should see that as an opportunity,” he told trustees Thursday during an Academic Quality and Student Success Committee meeting.

Besides attracting international students to YSU, it also would provide an opportunity to send YSU students abroad. That could attract domestic students who want that international experience.

The newly named college would house the international program, but international students would still be enrolled in all the colleges, Sracic said.

Trustees asked that a committee with representatives of all colleges provide input on the idea. That report is expected before the next round of trustee committee meetings in May.

The Academic Quality and Student Success Committee approved a resolution to establish a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry. The change must be approved by the Ohio Board of Regents.

“Within a 50-mile radius, every university and small college offers a biochemistry degree of some kind or another,” said Michael Serra, a chemistry professor.

The job outlook for people who secure the degree looks positive, according to the Ohio Occupational Wages and Employment guide.

Serra said establishment of the new degree requires no additional expenditure by the university.

In other business, the committee authorized honorary degrees for city native and Poland Seminary High School graduate Eric Spiegel, president and CEO of Siemens Corp., and Randall Craig Fleischer, music director of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and the Anchorage Symphony.

Both degrees will be conferred at the spring commencement.