EMU Today

YPSILANTI – Eastern Michigan University seeks to fill a critical career need in the teaching and training industry with a new academic program, a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Technology and Workforce Education.

The program will provide students the interdisciplinary concepts required to be professional educators in secondary, post-secondary, industry, government, or nonprofit organizational training and education positions.

“There is an extreme shortage of secondary education teachers in the United States,” said Rhonda Longworth, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at Eastern Michigan. “This shortage results from a combination of factors, including the societal changes brought about by technology. This program intends to provide highly qualified educators to fill the growing shortage in this field.”

The Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents approved the program at its regular meeting on April 23, 2019.

With nearly 130,000 students in Michigan enrolled in career and technical education programs, and with school districts adding additional engineering and technology education programs, it is increasingly essential to provide opportunities to prepare educators to teach these integrated concepts.

State of Michigan statistics indicate enrollment in these programs has increased by more than 5,000 students since 2015. This demand has increased pressure on existing programs and pressed school districts to add these advanced integrated courses into their programmatic course offerings.

Along with the academic need, Eastern offers an ideal location for such training – within minutes of metro Detroit and Washtenaw and surrounding counties and the many teaching and training needs in the region.

The program will provide expertise in applied STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) content. The problem- and project-based curriculum will teach the foundational elements of engineering and technology, which will enable graduates to teach such concepts to students.

Areas the new program will cover include engineering design, engineering physics, prototyping, civil engineering, construction, robotics, automation, computer programming, physical computing, and electronics.

Concentration options will include robotics and machine learning, vocational education, career and technical education, and training and development.

The program will begin in the 2019-2020 academic year.

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves more than 18,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Health and Human Services; Technology, and its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.