Come Fall, UF students enrolled in online-based programs will be offered a wider selection of majors, inching them closer to parity with on-campus students.
Students in Pathway to Campus Enrollment, a program in which they take 60 credits on- line before transitioning to on-campus classes, will be able to pursue a bachelor’s in fine arts degree in Fall, said Evangeline Cummings, the assistant provost and director of UF Online.
Additionally, three new majors will be added to the UF Online program. A bachelor’s degree for fire and emergency services, microbiology and cell science, and communication sciences and disorders will be available to fully online students.
An accounting minor will also be added.
“Online courses require a lot of engaging content,” she said. “So we only take on and bring in the ones that we deem of the highest quality.”
While on-campus students are offered about 150 majors, PaCE students and UF Online students are offered 52 and 18 majors, respectively.
Cummings said the communication science major is one of the most popular majors, so UF hopes to accommodate more students and draw them into science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
There will be a bachelor’s degree for business administration with eight possible specializations. The program has been available this Spring, but Cummings said UF didn’t publicize it, so more students are expected to enroll in Fall.
“I think the additional offering, in particular with business with the specialization, will open up a ton of opportunities for students,” Cummings said.
She said the business degree will be good for interdisciplinary studies and students coming in with credits from state colleges.
The fine arts majors were added for PaCE students, because faculty in the department requested it.
“Our college of arts really wanted to welcome additional PaCE students, and their faculty were really happy to learn the students could come to campus for their art studios,” Cummings said.
Because art majors are based around studio time, Cummings said an exception will be made for PaCE students in these programs so they can complete studio time on campus. Seven majors fall under this degree.
Cummings said when determining which majors to place online, she considers which are easiest to adapt to that format and the cost of developing the program. UF’s student advisory council also inputs their opinions.
“We take their feedback real- ly seriously, and we work to see what we can deliver in subsequent semesters,” she said.
Ethan Cassidy, a 19-year-old UF history sophomore, was a PaCE student who transitioned into full-campus enrollment. Cassidy said he has friends who didn’t want to enroll as PaCE students because their desired major wasn’t available.
“I just truly never understood why all the majors weren’t offered by PaCE, to be honest,” Cassidy said. “I’m just glad they’re doing that or thinking about doing that.”
NEW MAJORS OFFERED:
• Fire and emergency services
• Microbiology and cell science
• Communication sciences and disorders
• Fine Arts (Only PaCE addition)
Contact Romy Ellenbogen at rellenbogen@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @romyellenbogen
