Next fall, the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences will offer new majors in computer engineering, software engineering and information technology. The new majors will be housed in the college’s Division of Math, Science and Technology.
Saeed Rajput, assistant director of the Division of Math, Science and Technology, said growth of computing-related engineering jobs was a major factor in the decision to establish the majors. He said an undergraduate engineering degree is one of a handful of degrees that allows students to directly enter the workforce and potentially make at least $50,000/year.
“By 2018, 2 percent (approximately 2 million) of the jobs that will be available in the job market will be in the computing related engineering field, while only 0.5 percent (approximately 500,000) of the jobs will be in non-computing related engineering fields,” said Rajput.
Don Rosenblum, dean of the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, said the establishment of these new academic programs will serve the unmet needs of employers in the region. He said faculty are expanding connections with local and regional companies to provide internship and experiential learning opportunities for students.
“Graduates from NSU have already found strong success with entry to professional and graduate school as well as initial professional employment,” said Rosenblum. “I am confident that students enrolled in these new programs would have equally strong success.”
Rajput said the process of adding these new majors took nearly five years.
“A university task force, spearheaded by Rosenblum, took about two years to decide on the addition of these majors,” said Rajput. “The academic proposal took one year to put together, and the actual programs took two years to be approved by the university.”
Rosenblum said the process took a long time because the university wanted to ensure that, once established, the programs would have the necessary resources to flourish.
“The three programs are all directly relevant to technology and engineering and build upon existing faculty and university resource/expertise in mathematics, computer information systems and computer science,” he said. “The new programs provide strong complement – but do not overlap or duplicate.”
Brynne Hunt, sophomore biology major, believes these programs will increase undergraduate enrollment, and also enhance the undergraduate academic experience.
Hunt said, “FAU is the only university in Broward County that offers an engineering curriculum, and its main campus is in Boca Raton. The addition of these programs will make NSU a more viable option for individuals in Broward County who want to pursue undergraduate studies in engineering.”
Rosenblum said the possible establishment of a center, school or college of engineering will depend on the success of these majors and the availability of financial and other resources.
“The programs are all to be a part of the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences. With such a strong interdependence with existing programs and faculty, it may be premature to think about a college or school of engineering at NSU,” said Rosenblum.
