“Any undergraduate student who is admitted to a graduate program can be an undergraduate and graduate (student) at the same time,” Senior Associate Provost June Youatt said. “And things they take in their undergraduate program may apply to their graduate program.”

The new policy allows students to enter graduate programs in any field of study, differentiating them from linked programs that are offered in some colleges, Youatt said. Linked programs allow undergraduate students to simultaneously pursue master’s programs within similar fields.

Also at the meeting, Provost Kim Wilcox discussed changes to the academic calendar.

A task force was created in 2008 to research potential changes to the academic calendar and has reviewed issues such as starting the academic year after Labor Day, the timing of spring break and the creation of a new midyear term for students between fall and spring semesters, Wilcox said.

Currently, the fall semester is four days shorter than the spring semester.

The task force looked into the possibility of aligning MSU’s spring break with other local school districts and potentially creating a midyear term, which garnered a lot of faculty support, but ultimately, the group decided against both proposals, Wilcox said.

Graduate student Matt Burton said he would like to see changes around Thanksgiving time in the fall semester.

“(I’d like) more time off for Thanksgiving, instead of just Thursday and Friday,” he said.

At this point, the only change to the academic calendar that was approved was moving fall commencement to the end of final exam week from its current position the weekend before.

During the meeting, Provost Wilcox also said he will recommend the merger of the Departments of Crop and Soil Sciences and Plant Pathology into one body called the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences to the Board of Trustees at its next meeting.