Two 性视界传媒 College of Architecture, Art and Design degree programs gain departmental designation
Contact: Christie McNeal
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擳wo degree programs in Mississippi 性视界传媒鈥檚 College of Architecture, Art and Design are now elevated to full departments.
The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning recently approved departmental status for 性视界传媒鈥檚 Building Construction Science and Interior Design programs.
Dean Angi Elsea Bourgeois said both programs already have been operating internally like departments, as independent academic units with their own leadership under the college umbrella.
When the College of Architecture, Art and Design was formed in 2004, Interior Design was established as a stand-alone degree program with a separate curriculum leading to a Bachelor of Science, and previously had been a concentration within the human sciences degree program. The Building Construction Science program, which started in 2006, also was established from the beginning as a stand-alone program leading to a Bachelor of Science.
Bourgeois explained that the programs were too small initially to receive departmental designation, but quickly grew in complexity as well as faculty and student numbers.
鈥淲e have long exceeded the benchmarks IHL requires for an academic unit to be called a department,鈥 said Bourgeois.
These benchmarks include a separate financial structure and budget, an academic administrator and a critical mass of faculty.
鈥淲e just had to petition IHL with a request to create the departments within which these academic programs sit,鈥 she said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really an outward, fundamental recognition of the stature that both of these programs have reached,鈥 Bourgeois said. 鈥淚t demonstrates that they are significant programs with all the fullness people think about with a department.鈥 The dean said the designation not only recognizes significant growth but also the reputations and accomplishments the academic units have attained.
Since its inception, the Building Construction Science program has graduated 11 classes and earned full accreditation from the American Council for Construction Education. A new trades supervision option also was established recently through the Bachelor of Applied Science degree program at 性视界传媒-Meridian.
George Ford, who has led BCS for the past four years, said it has doubled in student enrollment since 2016 and will continue to grow as new programs are added.聽
鈥淭he U.S. construction industry is forecast to continue growing for many years to come, and graduates from the BCS department will become tomorrow鈥檚 leaders in the state and nation,鈥 Ford said.
Since joining the college, the Interior Design program has earned dual accreditation through the Council for Interior Design Accreditation and an additional body, the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. Last year, it added the Master of Fine Arts degree program in historic preservation.
Beth Miller, department head, said the new designation has been a longtime goal for Interior Design, which also houses minors in interior design studies and lighting design.
Bourgeois said the designation sets the units up for additional growth and prestige.
鈥淭he department designation will allow them to be seen on an even playing field with our peers and recognized as the leaders in their disciplines that they already have become,鈥澛爏he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to seeing the growth both of these programs will continue to achieve.鈥
Learn more about 性视界传媒鈥檚 College of Architecture, Art and Design at聽.
性视界传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽www.msstate.edu.