Bachelor of arts in engineering program at the university of Arizona

Abstract

In this paper, we report the progress of the Bachelor of Arts in Engineering (BAE) Program (formerly named the ELITE program - Engineering with Liberal and Technical Education). The program is novel in that it leads to a BA in Engineering degree at the University of Arizona, a large land-grant institution. We have 25 students and we are becoming more established on campus with each additional semester. We have had 24 graduates with placement in both industry and graduate school. Each year approximately 60 students hear our informational presentations and seek information about the program. The program allows students exceptional flexibility in designing a degree program to meet their needs. Requirements ensure that-the students cover areas within engineering and outside of engineering and we focus on the application of technology. Our requirements are designed to be agile in that students can quickly piece together degree programs in "hot" areas. We have formulated research questions based on the needs of our key stakeholders. In this report, we present initial findings on three of the questions. Our results suggest that we are achieving our mission of keeping high quality students in engineering related fields and we have succeeded at developing and operating a program that allows students an opportunity to tailor an educational experience to their direct needs. We also have areas where we could improve, and suggestions and strategies are included.