Campus Adds New Areas of Studies for Students to Choose From
New students or those who have not yet chosen their majors will have an array of options before them.
Five new majors and several new emphases, ranging across all three schools, are all coming online in 2024 and are recruiting students now.
New bachelorās of science degrees:
New bachelorās of arts degrees:
New emphases:
In the mechanical engineering major:
In the political science major:
In the sociology major:
Students who enroll in the public health bachelorās of science program can do so as part of the medical education pathway or as the basis for a multitude of other health care related careers.
āThe standard bachelorās of science program has more biology, physiology and nutrition science than the bachelorās of arts major,ā said Professor Nancy Burke, who led the development of the new major. āWe also have a health professionals/pre-med track that incorporates all the preparation students would need to apply to medical school or for any other health professional degree.ā
Those who are interested in careers in aerospace engineering can now choose that subject as an emphasis within their mechanical engineering degrees. And those in cognitive science can now enroll in that majorās new honors program.
Mechanical engineering Professor and Monya Lane and Robert Bryant Presidential Chair in Excellence in EngineeringĀ Ashlie Martini said aerospace engineering has been a subject of interest among students and faculty for quite a while.
āMany of our mechanical engineering undergraduate alumni go into aerospace companies already, so it has been something we have wanted to bring to Ā鶹ĪŽĀė°ę,ā she said. āWe are starting with an emphasis, but if we see a lot of students signing up for this, that would encourage the creation of a major.ā
Faculty have created four new classes for the aerospace engineering emphasis: aerospace structures and materials; flight dynamics and control; aeroelasticity; and aerospace propulsion. Technically, the classes are electives, so anyone in the mechanical engineering major can take them.
Students interested in the growing field of data science have two choices: data science and analytics and data science and computing.
āMajors are really a prescribed set of courses of study and data science is so big and so new, it's not possible to have a one-size-fits-all program," said Professor Suzanne Sindi, chair of the , and co-author of the data science and computing major.Ā
Data science ā the availability, collection and analysis of data ā has changed every field of study, Sindi said.
āIt behooves us to make sure that our students understand not just a domain, or area of study, but that they understand the data that exists within theĀ domain and what you can use it for,ā she said. āIt also helps them understand the world we live in.ā
The data science and analytics major is also a choice for those interested in understanding this growing field of study.
āData is at the core of modern-day systems-thinking and decision-making. The DSA major will not only provide an accessible bridge, but one that serves as a launchpad for clearing the digital divide, such that graduates will be well-equipped to think critically and tell stories with data,ā said management of complex systems Professor Alexander Petersen.
For students who lean more toward engineering, there is the new chemical engineering degree, offered by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Professor Kara McCloskey, who leads the chemical engineering program, said obtaining the degree opens a plethora of career paths for graduates.
āIt is a popular engineering major, it's considered a traditional engineering major and most of the other UC campuses offer it and industry, including food and beverage industries in the Central Valley, have been asking us when we are going to offer it,ā she said. āThey hire many of our students anyway, but chemical engineering is the right training for many other students they want to hire.ā
Chemical engineering includes a lot of mass separations, especially at a large scale, which are part of food- and wine-making processes, McCloskey explained.
āThere has been a demand for chemical engineers and especially those from the Valley, by Valley industry,ā department chair Professor Valerie Leppert said. āIt helps them retain workers because people can remain closer to family and home.ā