Prospective students interested in learning about degree programs offered by the University of Georgia at Gwinnett will be able to attend an open house from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 22 at the Gwinnett University Center in Lawrenceville.
Representatives from the various undergraduate and graduate degree programs UGA offers at the center will be on hand. UGA currently offers seven bachelor’s degree programs at the Gwinnett University Center, plus a variety of graduate degree programs.
The newest graduate program is a master of Internet technology degree offered by UGA’s Terry College of Business. Applications are now being accepted for fall enrollment in that program.
Students interested in applying for UGA’s undergraduate programs offered at the center have until March 1 to complete applications for summer enrollment and until April 1 for fall enrollment. Applications received after those deadlines will be considered pending academic program availability and adequate administrative processing time.
The undergraduate degree offerings include:
- a bachelor of business administration offered by the Terry College of Business,
- two bachelor’s degrees offered by the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, including a B.S. in biology and an A.B. in interdisciplinary studies emphasizing the social sciences,
- three bachelor of science in education degrees offered by the College of Education, including teacher certification programs in science education and special education and a unique interdisciplinary program in instructional psychology, training and technology,
- a bachelor of social work offered by the School of Social Work.
These are degree-completion programs open to transfer students with at least a 2.5 grade point average who have earned at least 60 hours of transferable course work at other institutions, as well as students who already hold a bachelor’s degree and are seeking a second degree.
UGA has been providing graduate degree programs and continuing education in Gwinnett since the mid-’80s. The College of Education offers master’s degree programs in several fields. UGA’s College of Pharmacy, in conjunction with the University System’s Intellectual Capital Partnership Program, also offers a special graduate-level certificate program to train regulatory affairs professionals in the biosciences industry.
The new master of Internet technology program is designed for part-time graduate students, with all coursework taught in evening classes by faculty in the college’s management information systems department.
“The degree is a blend of business management and the more technical aspects of Internet technology and Web design,” says Andy Seila, the program’s director and an MIS professor at the Terry College. “The idea is to bridge the gap between management and computer science.”
The master of Internet technology program was originally established in 2001 as a full-time, Athens-based graduate program requiring 32 credit hours to complete. Since 2001, the program has graduated about 75 students. The program will now follow the evening-course structure that’s been successfully implemented by the Terry College’s part-time M.B.A. program at Gwinnett.
UGA began offering undergraduate degree programs in Gwinnett in 2002, when the Gwinnett University Center moved from temporary leased space to its current 177-acre campus. However, these programs are scheduled to be phased out once a new four-year Gwinnett State College begins operating from that location.
“We are waiting to see whether the proposal for Gwinnett State College is approved and funded by the Georgia General Assembly,” says Bob Boehmer, senior administrator for UGA at Gwinnett. “The current timetable we are looking at is to discontinue our undergraduate programs in fall 2008. But that will be affected by the General Assembly’s actions.”
