Columns:: Proposals for engineering degrees, institute sent to Board of Regents

since 12/15/98

Columns::February 17, 2003

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Campus News

Proposals for engineering degrees, institute sent to Board of Regents

By Larry B. Dendy
ldendy@uga.edu

The University Council approved a plan for UGA to offer new bachelor’s and master’s degrees in three areas of engineering when resources are in place to support the programs.
The council also approved a request to change the existing Faculty of Engineering into an Institute of the Faculty of Engineering. The institute will administer all engineering degrees offered by UGA, and will oversee teaching, research and outreach programs in engineering.
The new degrees--in biochemical engineering, computer systems engineering and environmental engineering--will be implemented in a “progressive manner” as funds and resources become available, Arnett Mace, interim senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, told the council.
Dale Threadgill, director of the Faculty of Engineering, added that the degree programs will utilize existing faculty from both the Faculty of Engineering and other academic units and also will use existing facilities and equipment. The degrees will be offered “commensurate with demand,” Threadgill said.
The proposals for the new degrees and the institute now go to the University System Board of Regents for final approval.
The council also agreed to a plan that will allow students to take elective courses outside their major on a pass/fail basis. Instead of earning an A-F grade, students would receive either an S (satisfactory) or a U (unsatisfactory)--grades that would appear on transcripts and count toward graduation, but wouldn’t count in computation of grade point averages.
Denise Mewborn, chairwoman of the council’s Educational Affairs Committee, which presented the proposal, said it is designed to “reward” students by enabling them to take courses they otherwise couldn’t take.
The plan has a number of restrictions to prevent misuse, such as requiring that students have at least 30 hours toward graduation, be enrolled in an additional minimum 12 hours of graded course work, complete all normal requirements of the course, and not change their minds about the course once the drop-add period is over.
In other action, the council:
• Increased the number of resident credit hours required for the first baccalaureate degree from 40 to 45, beginning this fall semester.
• Approved a revised policy for awarding undergraduate posthumous degrees.
• Heard a report from Margaret Robinson, chair of the council’s Faculty Benefits Committee, on results of a new study on gender equity in compensation.

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