5 new degrees approved in music business, public health, GIS and more

The Indiana University Board of Trustees has approved five new degrees at its June meeting. They are:

• Bachelor of Science in music business.
• Bachelor of Science in public health in sexual and reproductive health.
• Master of Geographic Information Sciences.
• Bachelor of Science in tourism, hospitality and event planning.
• Master of Arts for Teachers in computer science.

Students who seek a career at the intersection of music and business are well suited for the Bachelor of Science in music business degree. Offered by the Jacobs School of Music and Kelley School of Business on the Bloomington campus, it is designed to provide them with experiences that will prepare them for jobs in the commercial music industry.

The degree will address skills necessary for graduates to provide the economic, operational and legal framework for professional musicians to create and distribute their art. Additionally, the degree program comes at a time when the music industry is expanding in areas of copyright and licensing, streaming and digital distribution, social media and marketing, and concert tours.

The B.S. in public health in sexual and reproductive health is offered by the School of Public Health- Bloomington. It is designed so students gain knowledge and skills in topics such as reproduction, reproductive technologies, contraception and fertility, sexually transmitted infections, relationships, boundaries, and consent.

Students will be career-ready to become a sexuality educator, health educator or researcher; if they continue and earn an advanced degree, they could be nationally certified as a sexuality educator, counselor or therapist. The degree program will provide internship, teaching, research and service opportunities, including community-based action research in rural Orange and Lawrence counties.

The Master of Geographic Information Sciences, offered by the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington, addresses the need of students interested in advanced careers in GIS and remote sensing or related areas. The program will train students to solve real-world problems in fields such as urban planning, environmental management, environmental conservation, public health, criminology and social behavior. Students will be prepared for technical and leadership roles in environmental, planning and governmental agencies, and with private companies that use GIS, remote sensing, Web-spaced geospatial programming and other geospatial technologies.

IU Southeast’s School of Arts and Letters, in conjunction with the School of Business, will offer the B.S. in tourism, hospitality and event planning. The program’s curriculum will provide students the hands-on experiences and management, leadership and analytical skills needed to work in any facet of the industry and was designed to meet labor market needs of local tourism, hospitality and event planning businesses.

The Master of Arts for Teachers in computer science is an online, collaborative degree offered by IU’s Northwest, South Bend and Southeast campuses, and in collaboration with existing degrees on the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses. Indiana has a statewide shortage of qualified computer science teachers at the K-12 level, and the new degree will provide students with subject expertise and qualify them to teach dual-credit computer science classes. The program’s online format is designed to provide a quality and convenient education for working teachers.

The Indiana Commission for Higher Education must give the degrees final approval.