At its Feb. 5 meeting, the University Council voted unanimously to offer three additional majors in engineering dependent upon approval by the board of regents.
If approved, the university will add undergraduate majors in mechanical, civil, and electrical and electronics engineering to its course list once funds become available, according to Provost Arnett C. Mace Jr.
“We will not initiate these programs until the budget does improve so that we will not affect other units,” said Mace, who added that the rationale for adding new majors stems from a lack of work-ready engineers in Georgia.
“In the state of Georgia, we import 50 percent of all engineers. While we have very excellent engineering programs at Georgia Tech, most of the students who graduate there with a bachelor’s move into research,” Mace said. “A number of employers have come to us, saying that they have a need for engineers and that they can’t find any without going out of state.”
UGA already offers majors in agricultural, biochemical, biological, computer system and environmental engineering.
In addition, the council voted to terminate eight graduate majors that had become redundant. The moves simplify things for students and faculty, according to David Shipley, chair of the University Council Curriculum Committee.
The council also voted to offer a doctoral degree in education at the university’s Gwinnett Campus, a non-thesis option in physics under the master of science degree and to offer a major in English education under the master of arts for teachers degree (MAT) that will include a teaching certificate.
