Meeting the Demand for Engineers

January 13, 2012

UT Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications

UT Tyler and Houston Community College Enter Partnership to Help Engineering Students Earn 4-Year Degrees

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January 13, 2012

Media Contact: Hannah Buchanan
Editor/Writer–Strategic Communications & Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.539.7196 (cell)

January 5, 2012

Media Contact: Hannah Buchanan
Public Affairs Specialist
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.565.5769 or 903.539.7196 (cell)

The University of Texas at Tyler and Houston Community College have become partners in engineering and science education to help students earn a four-year degree, Dr. Donna Dickerson, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, announced.

The partnership will provide a seamless transition for HCC graduates to UT Tyler and address the growing demand for more engineers in Texas.

HCC and UT Tyler also will offer upper division courses for associate degree graduates at the HCC Alief Campus in mechanical and electrical engineering.

“I am very excited about this new endeavor with HCC and what it means to the students in Houston. With the associate of science degree in engineering that HCC will offer and the upper division courses in engineering that UT Tyler will offer, students will have a much better opportunity to complete their four-year engineering degree. This is a market UT Tyler can serve well, and this movement builds upon the cooperative relationship HCC and UT Tyler have shared for the last four years,” said Dr. James Nelson, UT Tyler College of Engineering and Computer Science dean.

HCC will be responsible for providing facilities conducive for upper division engineering study for UT Tyler students. UT Tyler will provide upper division instruction, laboratory facilities and appropriate student and business office services for students enrolled in the UT Tyler completion programs.

“Offering students a clear pathway to a four-year engineering degree is a crucial advancement in higher education,” said Dr. Zachary Hodges, president of HCC Northwest. “HCC’s partnership with UT Tyler has the potential to lead to the creation of hundreds of engineers, and many of them will be able to find employment locally.”

The partnership establishes a Texas statewide model associate of science in engineering science degree program on the HCC Alief campus. This degree is accredited through the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology and will offer significant advantages to HCC students when considering transfer to UT Tyler or other engineering schools nationwide.

Composed of six colleges serving the Greater Houston area, HCC offers associate degrees, certificates, workforce training and lifelong learning opportunities for 75,000 students each semester.

UT Tyler has an enrollment of almost 7,000 students and offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees as well as two doctoral programs.