A3 • THE METROPOLITAN • MARCH 12, 2009

METRO
“I felt sick, like Leopold the Butcher talking
about the living conditions of Africans in
the Congo. ”
- JIMMIE BRALEY, INSIGHT on A8
TARA MOBERLY • NEWS EDITOR • tmoberly@mscd.edu
THIS WEEK
EVENTS
3.12 Lessons
from Iraq and the
War on Terror
Featuring Steve
Recca, Director
of the Center for
Homeland Security
in Colorado Springs
and Michael
Schwartz, author of
‘War Without End’
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Tivoli 320

3.17
Interviewing Skills
Workshop
Get tips and
suggestions
to prepare for
interviewing.
To sign up for
the workshop
visit www.mscd.
edu/~career or call
303-556-3664.
1 p.m. Tivoli 215

Adele Phelan, chairwoman of Metro’s Board of Trustees testifies to members of the Colorado House Education Committee about House Bill
1295 March 9 at the Capitol. Phelan expounded upon Metro’s eagerness to also offer graduate programs, as many graduating students today INDEX
have had to seek those options elsewhere. Photo by Drew Jaynes • ajaynes1@mscd.edu

House moves grad bill forward

INSIGHT ... A8
SPORTS ... A11
METROSPECTIVE ... B1
TIMEOUT ... B2
AUDIOFILES ... B6
Metro one step with the times, making it more adapt- added programs. Questionnaires the “Not to mention the doors that the

closer to adding
master’s degrees
By Andrew Flohr-Spence
spenceand@mscd.edu
Colorado legislators took a first
look this week at a bill that would al-
low Metro to offer master’s programs,
and so far, they like what they see.
The House Education Committee
voted unanimously March 9 to move
House Bill 1295 forward.
The bill would amend the state
statutes governing Metro allowing the
college to offer master’s degrees. The
House is expected to vote on it in the
coming weeks. The bill will then move
to the Senate and, if approved, would
need Gov. Bill Ritter’s signature.
“We know that Metro has been
a champion of students of all back-
grounds for many, many decades,”
House Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, one
of the bill’s sponsors, said to the com-
mittee. Todd said the change would al-
low Metro to broaden the opportunity
for its students, offering high-quality
degrees at a more affordable price than
other state schools.
“We are seeing it (Metro) move
able, more flexible and more available
to more students so they can achieve
their dreams,” Todd said.
John Karakoulakis, director of leg-
islative affairs for the Colorado Com-
mission on Higher Education, agreed
with Todd and said the commission
had voted to approve the legislation.
Metro President Stephen Jordan
and chair of Metro’s Board of Trustees,
Adele Phelan, testified to the commit-
tee in support of the bill. Jordan said
studies show that offering a master’s
helps a school retain both students
and faculty. Offering teachers a way
to continue their education, advance
professionally and earn more money
keeps them from moving on. Offering a
higher level of qualification attracts a
greater number of students who might
otherwise look elsewhere, or low-in-
come students might ordinarily be un-
able to afford further education.
Jordan outlined the three pro-
grams the college wants to extend to
the graduate level: education, social
work and accounting.
Jordan said the three departments
would quickly be ready to go, with
enough Ph.D. accredited professors
necessary to teach at the level, and a
high enough student demand for the
departments sent out to students came
back with overwhelming approval for
the idea, Jordan said.
“The board has taken this decision
very seriously,” Phelan said. “We really
think this continues Metro’s mission.”
The board set up a committee to
make sure the areas the college de-
veloped were able to sustain the new
services, and to make sure that all the
proper steps were taken to establish
the programs. Phelan told the educa-
tion committee that the plan so far has
received overwhelming endorsement
from students, faculty, staff, alumni
and the board of education.
There was no lack of support at the
meeting. Numerous other Metro of-
ficials, not to mention a few students,
also came to the public hearing pre-
pared to testify if needed.
Chair of teacher education Ellie-
Ann Shahinian Baldwin said that of
the nearly 2,000 students studying
in her department, around 510 stu-
dents were potentially candidates for
the program. She said the consider-
able pay increase that a teacher with a
master’s degree receives over teachers
with a bachelor’s degree, was some-
thing nearly every education student
was interested in.
higher degree opened if a person was
interested in educational administra-
WEATHER
tion,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin brought along an ideal 3.12 • Mostly Sunny
candidate for the program, Brian High: 50/Low: 22
Adler, an education student currently 3.13 • Chance of Snow
working on his certificate at Metro. High: 43/Low: 26
Adler said he was very interested in the 3.14 • Mostly Cloudy
master’s prospect and currently he was High: 54/Low: 30
slowed down in his educational career 3.15 • Mostly Sunny
because Metro couldn’t offer it. High: 53/Low: 32
Schools with master’s programs 3.16 • Partly Cloudy
allow teachers to get the additional High: 52/Low: 30
degree and their teacher certification 3.17 • Mostly Sunny
at the same time. Currently, Adler has High: 54/Low: 32
to wait until he is done with the certifi- 3.18 • Partly Cloudy
cate and then will have to find another High: 57/Low: 34
school to do his graduate work. By Kendell LaRoche
Adler said he would sign up if Met-
ro could make the change by 2010, CORRECTIONS
otherwise he’d have to go elsewhere.
But if the speed at which the bill Due to an error, the Sudoku
is moving through the house is any puzzle in the March 5
indication, Adler won’t have to leave. Metropolitan could not be
The committee didn’t need to hear solved.
from Baldwin or Adler: they were con-
vinced. To notify The Metropolitan of
“It’s really nice when things can an error in any of our reports,
move that quickly,” President Stephen please contact Editor-in-Chief
Jordan said after the hearing. “It’s tes- James Kruger at jkruger1@
timony to all the hard work everybody mscd.edu
had put in.”