http://www.insidehighered.com/layout/set/print/news/2009/06/19/humanesociety

http://www.humanesocietyuniversity.org/stories/marc_bekoff.html


Degree Completion for Dog Lovers
June 19, 2009
It's not spelled out as an admissions requirement, but its a safe
assumption that Must Love Dogs is implicit.

Or animals, at least. The Humane Society University, newly licensed as a
degree-granting institution by the District of Columbia, will begin
offering undergraduate degrees this fall in animal studies, animal policy
and advocacy, and humane leadership, as well as graduate certificates in
those three areas. The university, which is a program of the Humane
Society of the United States, will offer degree programs online and on
site in D.C.

The programs are oriented toward working adults and those looking to
complete their bachelors degrees; to be admitted to the undergraduate
programs, students would essentially have to have junior status, and have
already completed at least 60 college credits, including general education
requirements, elsewhere. (Another such specialized college offering
instruction only in the junior and senior years, but this one with a
single major in history, is also getting started.)

In the animal shelter community, a great percentage of executive directors
are career changers. And the executive directors at the local animal
shelter level, a great majority of them do not have a college degree or
only have an associate degree. So this is really trying to help
professionalize that position, says Robert Roop, the Humane Society
Universitys president. In addition to professionals already working in
animal shelters or related nonprofits, the university hopes to attract
students interested in animals and animal advocacy more generally --
someone who works in the day and volunteers in the evening, or someone who
works in public policy who has a keen interest in animal advocacy, Roop
says.

"We really think there is a niche out there."

The Humane Society University already offers non-credit professional or
work force development courses in-person and online, and has since its
founding about five years ago, Roop explains. Now that its licensed to
grant degrees, Roop says the university has plans to seek accreditation
from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

So what would a major in animal studies, animal policy and advocacy, or
humane leadership look like? Across the three majors, all students would
take two courses: Animal Protection as a Social Movement and Animals and
Ethics. The animal studies major is intended to be interdisciplinary in
nature, and the core courses include Understanding the Human Animal Bond,
Sociology of Animal Abuse, Animals in Literature, Global Animal Issues,
and Animal Protection and the Environment. Core courses for the animal
policy and advocacy major, meanwhile, include Research Methods for Humane
Change, Animals and Public Policy, and Animals, Advocacy and Corporate
Change. The humane leadership major includes core courses in humane
content," including courses in Humane Education and Animal Cruelty and
Interpersonal Violence, as well core courses in nonprofit management.

Tuition will be set at around $300 per credit or $900 per course, says
Roop. While the department chairs will be full-time faculty, the
university will otherwise rely on adjuncts -- which Roop says offers an
opportunity to cull the best available talent to teach in the part-time
program. We have literally gone out and scoured the countryside for what
we could consider the expert in animal ethics and the expert in the
sociology of animal abuse, said Roop, who expects that about 60 to 70
percent of the university's students will enroll online. For students, he
likewise hopes to draw from a national pool.

Its the only program like it in the United States, says Roop. Theres
nothing even close to compare to it.

Frankie Trull, president of the National Association for Biomedical
Research -- which represents groups that do animal research whereas the
Humane Society represents, well, animals -- was skeptical. She pointed out
that plenty of colleges already offer degrees in various aspects of animal
care (albeit not advocacy, but, she said, Ive never heard of a university
granting degrees in advocacy).

She asked: If the degree really is something of value when you get out, I
guess thats the question. And maybe it is, like everything else thats new,
who knows? Some things work and some things dont. But I certainly think
the message needs to be made that there are programs in existence now in
all forms of animal care.

Elizabeth Redden
http://www.insidehighered.com/layout/set/print/news/2009/06/19/humanesociety