On August 2, Southern Adventist University published an article on its website introducing a bachelor’s degree in engineering with concentrations in mechanical, electrical and computer engineering. New junior-level courses are expected to open for enrollment in Fall 2023, according to Ken Caviness, chair of the physics and engineering department.
In an email to the Accent, Caviness wrote that Southern has offered engineering courses since 1978, but it has never offered anything more than an associate degree. This new program will build off of the current A.S. Engineering Studies program and allow students who started in Fall 2021 and 2022 to stay at Southern to complete their bachelor’s. Caviness described it as a fulfillment of a great need.
“For over 40 years, we have heard students express the desire to stay at Southern, but sadly, until now, this wasn’t possible,” Caviness wrote. “Some students changed majors rather than leaving Southern. Many students felt that at least spending two years at Southern was worth it, despite having to transfer to another institution to finish a B.S. degree.”
Caviness added that some students who were interested in Southern chose to attend a different school to avoid transferring later on.
Annaliese Haugin, junior engineering major, said the new program changed her plans to transfer, and she will now stay at Southern to complete her bachelor’s.
“When I first heard about the new engineering program, I thought it was a great idea,” said Haugins. “It [is] about time we have another Adventist school offering a full engineering program.”
According to adventistcolleges.org and university websites, the North American Seventh-day Adventist colleges and universities that currently offer bachelors’ degrees in engineering through programs that do not require transferring include Andrews University, Walla Walla University and Oakwood University. However, Oakwood only offers one engineering degree, chemical engineering, while Andrews and Walla Walla offer multiple.
Caviness said there are currently 20 engineering students in the associate degree program, and many have now expressed interest in staying at Southern to complete their bachelor’s. The department expects its first graduates from the new program in May 2025.
The need for the bachelor’s degree was identified in 2019 by Gray Associates, a higher education strategy consultant group, which held a two-day workshop on campus, according to Tyson Hall, dean of Graduate and Professional Studies.
“The purpose of the workshop was to analyze data provided by Gray Associates on various programs of study that are projected to have both high demand in industry and high interest among students,” Hall wrote in an email to the Accent. “This process helped the university [identify] new programs that we should strategically consider offering.”
Hall wrote that an expanded engineering program was then added to the university’s “academic masterplan.” He added that at program maturity, the university anticipates having between 100 and 120 students in the engineering program, consequently bringing almost 40 new students to Southern each year.
Both Caviness and Hall wrote that the program will require more lab, office and classroom space, as well as six new faculty and staff. Sean Walters has already been hired as a full-time mechanical engineering professor and is currently working on campus.
Walters wrote in an email to the Accent that the department is already working to acquire necessary equipment for lab spaces. For example, it recently purchased robots for students to reverse engineer.
“Engineers are the creative force that take scientific knowledge and transform it into practical ‘know-how’ to support our technological civilization,” Caviness wrote. “One of my former bosses used to say, ‘Engineers create the wealth of the country. All other professionals just move money from one pocket to another.’”
Walters agreed with Caviness, adding that engineers can contribute to the “moral capital” of society as well.
“As technology advances, and moral and ethical dilemmas increase, the problems facing humanity need solutions from engineers who look to the true Source of answers,” Walters wrote. “Southern has the environment for producing these engineers.”
