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Students will now be on four year program  Pacific has always prided itself on offering students a unique five-year undergraduate engineering program.
This program consisted of introductory engineering courses, core requirements and electives, and a full 12 months of paid co-op experience at an engineering firm. Small but significant changes have been made to allow for the new four-year program to take shape. The once required three-unit introductory engineering class has been reduced to one unit. Technical writing, a class designed for the writing needs of engineers but offered through College of the Pacific’s English department, was removed as a requirement for engineers and instead technical writing components have been more extensively integrated into the general engineering curriculum. The co-op requirement has been shortened to a total of seven and a half months, although students have the option of taking 12 months of co-op as required by the former five-year program. Dr. Gary Martin, Ed. D., Assistant Dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science (SoECS) said that the program was reduced to four years from five years in order to better fit with “evolving accreditation criteria and student demographics.” Martin stated, “We plan to offer a blended 4 + 1 Masters Program in which students could possibly complete their B.S. in four years…and begin completing some graduate courses while still completing their undergraduate degree.” Being able to complete both a bachelor and a masters degree in just five years does sound like a good idea. The blended bachelors and masters program would allow students to shave at least a year off of their schooling since most master degrees outside of Pacific would require two years of full time study. Students in the current five-year engineering program had their own thoughts to offer on the changes to their school. Mechanical Engineering student Aric Evins commented about the changes to the program while on his first coop at General Mills in Lodi. Evins strongly felt that the full five-year undergraduate program makes UOP unique. “The five-year program for engineering, including the full year of co-op, is one thing that sets UOP apart from other colleges and is one of the more attractive things about the SoECS,” he said. Civil engineering student Delicia Borja admitted her own bias when talking about the new four-year program. “Coming from the five-year program, I think that future students would definitely be losing out on an opportunity of a lifetime,” she said. Liza Boyle, on co-op in Seattle, Washington, said, “In reality the only difference [between the programs] is the number and/or amount of coop time you do. “I am doing two different co-ops and I feel as though I have been at both of them long enough to really understand what the job is like, and the work of the people around me,” she said. “So for four-year students who choose to do two co-ops then I would say they are in roughly the same boat.” Junior Christina Ramirez summed up the feelings of many of her fellow students. “The five-year program is a huge reason why many students come to Pacific,” she said. “I feel that the coop gives students not only wonderful experience, but also a much needed break between semesters of classes. The extra money definitely helps!” She also added, “There is talk that soon civil engineering students will need to get their masters [to be competitive in the field], so four years allows students to finish their undergrad and still get that Masters in a total of five years.”
Overall, the administration is optimistic about the changes it plans to introduce. “To now have the prospect of awarding students a B.S. that includes seven and a half months of paid practical experience plus an M.S. in as few as five years is extremely exciting,” said Martin.
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