By Steve Knight/editor-in-chief
TCC now offers the Associate of Science degree, a new two-year plan tailored for science and mathematics students, providing curricula enabling students to transfer to a university science program, officials announced.
Tim Gilbert, associate vice chancellor for teaching and learning services, said the new degree was requested by faculty members, accepted by a faculty committee last fall and approved by the chancellor last spring.
“The difference is the kind of electives that lead up to the 64 hours,” he said. “As things have moved, math and science have become very important.”
According to the degree plan, students may use the 18 hours of electives to take courses in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, geology, mathematics or physics after completing core requirements.
Courses then transfer to four-year universities, partially fulfilling requirements for the bachelor of science degree, Gilbert said.
Gary Smith, NE Campus divisional dean of sciences and technology, said the degree plan is a better option for students in those fields and helps them prepare for university science studies.
“It has the possibility of helping transfer and not hindering transfer,” he said.
Those students interested in pharmacy, pre-med and multiple kinds of engineering would benefit from this program as well as those who want careers in field biology and ecology, he said.
A new NE Campus pilot program will provide students in the program a faculty member to assist with academic advising.
“The advisor will help the student choose which courses in the core to take, what is most compatible, where they need to go and how to get there,” Smith said.
Smith also said faculty advisors would provide career counseling as well.
Prior to establishing the new degree, science students earned the Associate in Arts degree, which required courses in humanities and the arts.
The new degree plan shows area colleges and universities that TCC students will be competitive, Smith said.
“They [the universities] would be quite happy in us doing this,” he said.
Students interested in the associate of science program should consult their campus counselor or advisor.
