ABERDEEN, S.D. – The South Dakota Board of Regents this week approved new undergraduate degrees in biochemistry and sports marketing and administration, while also authorizing delivery of several existing academic programs at other locations within the public university system.

 

At its meeting in Aberdeen, the regents approved bachelor’s degrees in sports marketing and administration for Northern State University and in biochemistry at South Dakota State University.

 

Northern State’s program will prepare students for professional positions in the sports industry, which has expanded to a $195 billion industry over the past decade. “With our society’s increased emphasis on sports and fitness activities to ensure healthy lifestyles, there are excellent employment opportunities for graduates in this field,” said Regents President Harvey C. Jewett. “Only a few universities in the Midwest have undergraduate programs in sports marketing or sports management, and Northern will now be one of those.”

 

NSU officials expect enrollment in the new program to begin with about 10 students and increase to 50 students by 2010.

 

At SDSU, a biochemistry major was approved to prepare students for careers in science-related industries, or for admission to graduate science programs or professional programs such as medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. A bachelor’s degree in biochemistry was previously offered, but it was among several small enrollment programs eliminated by the regents in 1996. Renewed student interest now justifies establishing a new major in the field, university officials said.

 

“This program is another piece in South Dakota’s strategy to increase research capacity in the sciences,” Jewett said. About 25 students are expected to be pursuing the new degree by 2010.

 

The regents also approved requests from Dakota State University to offer its M.S. degree in information assurance through distance delivery, its bachelor’s degree in management information systems in Sioux Falls, and its minor in computer and network security at NSU, Black Hills State University, Capital University Center in Pierre, and through distance delivery. The University of South Dakota was given approval to deliver its master’s and education specialist degrees in educational administration using online distance delivery.

 

Two new minors were approved at SDSU in marketing and professional writing. DSU also received the go-ahead for a minor in English for information systems. No new state resources were requested to develop or implement any of the new programs, minors, or delivery sites.

 

-30-