ASUO Sen. Alex McCafferty is collaborating with the Department of Military Science in an attempt to create a military science minor.
Senate will see a resolution tonight that attempts to gain support for the endeavor.
“There’s a full-fledged department, funded, staffed and with classes and everything, but there’s no degree, no program associated with it,” said McCafferty, who was last year’s student representative for the Reserve Officers Training Corps Advisory Committee.
After talking with the department head, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lingle, about the issue, McCafferty found out that no one had ever tried to create the academic program. He decided to take it on himself.
“I think this will benefit the campus, not just the cadets but the campus community as a whole,” he said.
“This is mainly to support the cadets in the general student population,” Lingle said. “There are many programs nationwide that do offer military science minors. So we thought, why don’t we attempt it this year at the University?”
Currently, there are 59 contracted cadets and an additional 88 students participating in military science classes or training events, Lingle said.
The resolution includes the proposed coursework, 100- to 400-level military science classes and a list of courses that can be substituted for the advanced courses of the sequence, so that non-cadets can also complete the minor.
“To take 300- and 400-level (military science) classes, you have to be a contracted cadet; you’ve sworn an oath, committing to military service at the end of it,” Lingle said. “We looked at every department to see if there were courses that applied to not just leadership, but also things that are important to professional army officership. It’s purposefully designed so that you don’t have to be a cadet.”
This supplementary coursework include classes in philosophy, history, geography, sociology and political science.
McCafferty became interested when he enrolled in military science courses and almost became a cadet himself. He is involved in the process, which involves submitting the proposal to the College of Arts and Sciences, making a recommendation to the provost and securing approval from the University Senate.
“Essentially it takes a really long time,” McCafferty said. “I felt that if the Senate passed a resolution, it would be a nice thing to add to the overall proposal, saying ‘the representatives of the student body support this endeavor.’”
ASUO Programs Administrator Conrad Hulen is in the process of becoming a cadet and is spreading the word about the resolution among his friends and peers.
“In making sure the resolution passes, I’ve been informing fellow cadets and classmates, trying to get them to come to the late Wednesday night meeting,” he said. “It will be another reinforcement of the University as a true liberal arts educational experience.”
Hulen added, “I’m sure there are many people at the University that aren’t particularly interested in a military armed services career, but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to partake in leadership classes, field exercises classes, physical training and be able to apply that to something else they’re working on.”
Lingle said the earliest he expects to see the minor offered is during the 2011-12 school year.
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