The Daily Mining Gazette - Published: Monday, May 07, 2007 Print Article | Close Window New programs attracting students to Tech By DAN SCHNEIDER, DMG Writer HOUGHTON — Interdisciplinary studies is where the excitement is. Michigan Tech University Provost Dr. Dave Reed said courses of study combining two or more fields of science have strong appeal to students. “Students, especially, seem to respond to the new challenges and new opportunities of bringing things together in ways they’ve never been brought together before,” Reed said. He said the overlap between sciences is fertile ground for discoveries. “A lot of the exciting things that are happening in science and technology are happening at the boundaries,” Reed said. “Like the program we created recently in biochemistry, that’s at the boundary between biology and chemistry.” Tech offers an interdisciplinary Biochemistry and Molecular Biology degree. The Technical Theatre minor offered through the university’s humanities department has been attracting growing numbers of students. That minor combines art with engineering. Friday, Tech’s board of control approved two more interdisciplinary degree programs. The first was a Phd. in Atmospheric Sciences, which combines elements from various academic departments within the university. Also approved was a Bachelor of Science degree titled Health and Physical Education. Reed said the latter degree combines biological and mechanical concepts. Tech Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Les Cook said interdisciplinary programs have helped the university recruit students. He said the Health and Physical Education degree should do the same. “I think that will also have a lot of appeal to prospective students,” Cook said. Recruiting efforts have been going well for the university, he said, and enrollment is growing. “Our goal is to be at 7,000 by 2010 and I think with the increases we are seeing I’m pretty confident we can get to that number,” Cook said. Tech’s spring enrollment was up compared to 2006 and early indications such as application numbers show that trend is likely to continue. Dan Schneider can be reached at dschneider@mininggazette.com