Southern Launches New Engineering Program

BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN ENGINEERING

Southern Adventist University Launches New Program, Fall 2023

TYSON HALL, PHD, DEAN, SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND PHYSICS

EXCITING NEWS!

After years of offering a successful Associate of Science in Engineering Studies degree, Southern Adventist University is adding a four-year program of its own in Fall 2023. The new Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) program will provide students with a broad foundation in engineering principles while also allowing them to specialize in Computer, Electrical, or Mechanical Engineering–concentrations chosen based on national student demand data, prospective student data, competitor analysis, and curricular and financial efficiency. Additional concentrations, such as Civil or Chemical Engineering, may be offered in the future, depending on enrollment growth and student interest.

TYLER VAUDREUIL, ENGINEERING STUDENT

STUDENT DEMAND

In each of the past three years, 300+ Southern applicants and inquiries have enrolled in engineering and similar programs at other institutions. That demand is, in part, driven by a robust industry need for engineers. These facts suggest:

• A large number of students within Southern’s known pool of prospective students are interested in engineering.

• When fully implemented, it is projected that the BSE program can attract at least 30-40 new students to Southern each year.

“I am excited about being able to complete my engineering degree at Southern Adventist University. I’ve had some really good experiences here so far: wonderful professors who are always available to help me, great friends, and a solid spiritual environment. I’m looking forward to staying here and being one of the first BSE graduates from Southern!” -Annaliese Haugen

MARKET ANALYSIS

Based on the prospective student data, only 16% of students in Southern’s applicant and inquiry pool who go elsewhere to pursue engineering end up attending a Seventh-day Adventist institution. This indicates a high need for more Adventist education options in engineering, especially in the Southeast, where there currently are none.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is Southern’s closest public competitor. Its engineering program, established in 1969, graduates an average of 170 students each year. This is just over half of the current engineering jobs being advertised in the local area (300+), suggesting there is a large need for additional engineering graduates.

Southern is actively building relationships with area firms to establish internship opportunities that will give students practical experience in the field, increasing employment options upon graduation.

PROGRAM GOALS

Southern’s BSE program is designed with three primary goals in mind for students:

1 APPLY the principles and skills of engineering in professional practice or advanced study.

2 ENGAGE in professional development with intellectual curiosity and discipline.

3 SERVE God, church, family, employer, colleagues, and society.

Engineering faculty are working with Southern’s mission trip leaders to develop engineering-related service opportunities, both in the United States and abroad. Engineers are highly valued around the globe, particularly in developing countries, where they can deploy sustainable infrastructure that provides basic human needs and, like Christ, connect with people in practical ways.

STRONG FOUNDATIONS

Engineering students typically earn 30-40 semester credit hours in math and science. Southern is uniquely positioned to direct students from this preparatory coursework into a full BSE program because it has a strong existing academic infrastructure in mathematics and science curriculum.

In fact, over the past 10 years, 95% of Southern’s pre-engineering students successfully matriculated to engineering programs at regionally and nationally recognized engineering schools such as Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

The program has been designed to meet standards established by ABET, whose accreditation process can only begin once an institution’s first BSE student has graduated.

EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE

To begin the new BSE program, Southern is utilizing space made available when campus departments relocated from Lynn Wood Hall to the new Bietz Center for Student Life. Renovation of the newly vacated space began in early 2023. In addition, a 4,500-square-foot maker space is being retrofitted in Ledford Hall to accommodate a CNC vertical mill and other machinery. Hickman Science Center also will house many of the math and science courses foundational to the engineering degree.

All classrooms and lab spaces will be ready for the first official cohort of BSE students when the program launches in August 2023.

PROGRAM LEADERSHIP

School of Engineering and Physics faculty charged with leading the BSE program include:

Teaching faculty also will include adjunct instructors and expand as program enrollment increases. An advisory council of industry professionals, many of whom attended pre-engineering or computing programs at Southern,* will help guide the BSE program and connect students with job shadowing, internship, and employment opportunities:

JOHN BUXTON, BOEING

ANDREW DONESKY, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA*

RICK ECKHART, MCKEE FOODS CORPORATION

JONATHAN GERRANS, SOLIDIGM*

AARON HALUSKA, MILLER INDUSTRIES*

HUNTER MCKEE, MCKEE FOODS CORPORATION*

KURT MOON, STR RESOURCE & ASSOCIATES

BRIAN ROTH, EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY

KHALID SORENSEN, FINITY ENGINEERING, LLC*

TYSON HALL, PHD DEAN SEAN WALTERS, PHD PROFESSOR

JAY ANDERS, PE PROFESSOR

KEN CAVINESS, ’82, PHD DIR. PHYSICS PROGRAM

GET INVOLVED

Southern welcomes your support of its new BSE program!

To date, funds supporting the BSE program have come from operations, private contributions, corporate donations, and a federal STEM grant. Southern is seeking additional gifts to cover remaining expenses. Start-up costs include the hiring of new personnel, equipment purchases, building renovations, and a program endowment. The expectation is that this program will break even in academic year 2026-2027. Initial expenses include:

We invite you to invest in this exciting new program by visiting southern.edu/goengineering.

HONORING A LEGACY

Imagine a state-of-the-art lab where engineering students research and learn using advanced technologies. Your gift toward a specially named space in the newly expanded School of Engineering and Physics will help make this a reality at Southern.

Henry Kuhlman, PhD, arrived on campus as a professor in 1968 fresh from graduate school—and is still teaching 55 years later! His instructional work with physics and introductory engineering courses has contributed to the successful training of countless professionals who began their education at Southern.

To honor Kuhlman’s legacy, we are naming an important departmental area in his honor: The Henry Kuhlman Mechanical Engineering Lab.

We invite you to celebrate his investment in Southern students. Gifts of support for the Henry Kuhlman Mechanical Engineering Lab can be made online by visiting southern.edu/goengineering.

HENRY KUHLMAN, PHD PROFESSOR EMERITUS

A RENDERING OF THE HENRY KUHLMAN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING LAB