Academic Program Proposal

Date Proposal Activated	Institution and Proposal	Degree Awarded	Academic Program Name	Objection Deadline	MHEC Final Action	Final Decision Date
	Salisbury University Proposal	Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)	Outdoor Education Leadership	10/9/2019	Approved	10/30/2019
Outdoor Education Leadership Program Description
The Department of Education Leadership at Salisbury University (SU) proposes to add a Bachelors of Arts (B.A.) degree in Outdoor Education Leadership (ODEL) to address local and regional demand for young professionals trained in leadership using environmental, adventure, and adventure‐based programming. The ODEL BA program provides students with the multidisciplinary background in leadership, ethics, programming, and management to prepare them to serve the public and private sectors. <br> <br>The proposed ODEL B.A. program is guided by the accreditation standards of the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) and complements nearly any student minor; examples include Environmental Studies (environmental interpretation), Psychology (wilderness therapy), Business (group leadership), Communication, and Biological Sciences. The program prepares students to compete for professional positions, not only in the large variety of Mid‐Atlantic outdoor adventure, education, and environmental interpretation jobs, but also in fields requiring leadership development, communication, and facilitation skills.  Upon graduation, students will have a variety of employment options including, but not limited to, outdoor education adventure programming, corporate leadership development, and youth service organization leadership.