12/18/97
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University's Russ College of Engineering and Technology has formed a partnership with Marietta College to allow engineering students at these institutions to take undergraduate engineering courses and earn bachelor's degrees from both schools.
The project will give Ohio University students access to the accredited petroleum engineering program at Marietta College, the only program of its type in Ohio. For Marietta students, the project will provide access to other accredited engineering disciplines not available at Marietta College, a small, private four-year college in Southeastern Ohio.
Participants will be students at both institutions, and will obtain degrees from Ohio University and Marietta College. The approach is unique because it combines a liberal arts degree with an engineering degree for interested students, said Kent Wray, dean of engineering at Ohio University.
"In fact," Wray said, "I obtained my engineering bachelor's degree in this same manner, taking three years of pre-engineering courses at a small liberal arts college and then transferring to a large state university to complete the engineering degree requirements, and obtained degrees from both institutions."
A Marietta College student participating in the program would be required to complete a minimum of 90 semester credit hours at Marietta College and take up to 34 additional credit hours in engineering at Ohio University to receive a degree from Marietta College. Ohio University students participating in the program would be required to complete a minimum of 135 quarter credit hours at Ohio University and 65 additional equivalent credits at Marietta College to receive an engineering degree from Ohio University.
Students must enroll in the program by the end of their sophomore year to allow for class scheduling. The program will take about five years to complete, but students can plan their own attendance schedule. This arrangement will be especially beneficial for student-athletes who want to play sports at one university and take courses at the other, according to Bob Chase, chair of Petroleum Engineering at Marietta College. A student wishing to play NCAA Division III football at Marietta College could attend that institution during the fall semester and Ohio University during the winter and spring quarters.
"This is a landmark relationship," said Larry Wilson, president of Marietta College. "In education, it is difficult to be unique, but this new agreement strikes me as very special. I view it as a valuable service in particular to the people of Ohio and West Virginia, as well as a connection to tremendous career options for students from around the nation and around the world."
Marietta College, which has a student population of 1,100, is the only private, liberal arts college to offer a degree in petroleum engineering. This year, petroleum engineering graduates are being offered starting salaries of $50,000, along with signing bonuses of up to $5,000 in cash.
"The value of this agreement to Ohio University engineering students is to offer them an opportunity to obtain another accredited engineering degree, while the value of the agreement to Marietta students is the opportunity to complete their first two or three years of study at a good, smaller institution and then transfer into an engineering degree program other than petroleum engineering," Wray said.
Ohio University offers degree programs in chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, and mechanical engineering. Also offered is a computer engineering option in the electrical engineering program and a bachelor's degree in computer science, a program closely related to electrical engineering and computer engineering.
Roger Radcliff, assistant dean of engineering at Ohio University, will serve with Chase as student liaisons for the project.
"We anticipate only about a dozen students to take advantage of this program at the outset, but we expect more will participate in the program once it is established," Chase said.