During the University Senate meeting Tuesday, the Senate raised a motion to make Women’s Studies a new major for the College of Arts and Sciences.

With the approval of this motion, the program will be implemented in fall semester of 2006.

The Academic Policies Committee proposed the motion and hopes to have the proposal approved by the campus by the end of this semester.

ACP Chair Kent Syverson said in order for the major to be approved, it must go through a long process of “signing off.”

“This is kind of the initial step in that process,” he said.

After approval, it still must go through the Board of Regents and a faculty search must be conducted.

Currently there are three degree programs offered in Women’s Studies in the state of Wisconsin; at UW-Madison, UW-Whitewater and UW-Milwaukee.

As stated in the proposal, the Women’s Studies major closely would resemble the major in American Indian Studies, because they are both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary.

The proposal also states the need for a Women’s Studies major has come straight from the students who expressed their desires in a 2004 survey that was offered to all students enrolled in a Women’s Studies course. In the last three years, the Women’s Studies program has consistently served 30 to 40 students seeking a minor in the program.

The proposal states, “The increasing number of minors within the past few years is an indication of the potential demand for a Women’s Studies major; from 1999 to 2004, the number increased by 150 percent, from 22 to 55.”

The University Senate will continue discussion on this topic at the next meeting, April 26, and decide from there whether or not they will be able to take a vote and approve the proposal.