An upgrade the Northwest Missouri State University’s Internet bandwidth was approved by the University’s Board of Regents Monday.

The Board gave the approval for the school to increase its Internet bandwidth as well as a series of curriculum proposals.

MOREnet, the school’s Internet provider will increase the service to 750 megabytes under a five-year agreement at an additional cost of $10,000 per year.

Dr. Roger Von Holzen, Vice President for Information Technology presented the proposal for the increase and said the number of Internet-connected devices on the Northwest campus continues to increase and current bandwidth usage consistently nears the University’s maximum allocation of 500 megabytes daily during key hours.

Among the curriculum proposals approved by the Board, as presented by Northwest Provost Dr. Tim Mottet, Northwest will begin offering a master’s program in sport and exercise psychology to align with current occupational trends. Mottet said that Northwest has about 20 students enrolled in related minors and five health and human services majors with a high interest in a sport and exercise psychology graduate program. He said no peer institutions offer similar programs and, according to the Association of Sport Psychology, the field is expected to grow rapidly, especially for applicants with appropriate graduate-level training. Completion of the Northwest program will allow students to apply for Sport Psychology Consultant Certification through the Association for Advanced Sport Psychology.

Northwest will also pilot a course, titled Academic Success Seminar, in the spring as a component of the University’s new Academic Success Coaching program. The course will be geared toward freshmen placed on academic probation, and students will utilize various strategies and skills learned in the course to foster success in their other coursework.