CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On Tuesday, Del Mar Community College's Board of Regents approved the idea of offering a new Bachelors of Applied Science program for students.
The program is the first of it's kind and will focus on Organizational Management and Leadership Development. When deciding the curriculum for the program, Del Mar said they wanted to provide a degree program that would help many students and not just a particular group.
The opportunity will give students a stepping stone to succeed in 55 different other programs with specializations once they earn their applied science degree.
“So it’s definitely an opportunity to continue the pathways for students and advance their economic mobility and their career mobility," Dean of Business, Entrepreneurship and Health Sciences Dr. Jennifer Sramek said, "In doing so, it provides an opportunity for our faculty, staff and students to look at different career pathways for themselves, but also for these students who can advance move forward in their education.”
The idea of bringing the program to the community college comes from extensive research of industry professionals in management. It's also based on several surveys from students, detailing what they're looking for regarding career advancement and progress.
“If a student went into an entry level position and they started to gain years of experience in that position, it could qualify them for a supervisory type position and that education will be one more plus on their resume to show that they had what it takes to move on in the next level of their career," Sramek said.
However, the program is not limited to just students. Faculty and staff have the chance to apply for the program is they're interested.
“We may have a staff that’s been working that has an associate degree and they haven’t been able to go to the neighboring universities to work on a bachelors so this will give them an opportunity in house and it’s an affordable degree for them," Vice President & Chief Academic Officer Dr. Jonda Halcomb, said.
Del Mar Community College said they hope this Bachelors of Applied Science degree shows students their continuing effort to set themselves a part from neighboring college and open doors for students to succeed in and out of the classroom.
Now, the college's Board of Regents will discuss the program proposal with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Regional Accreditor, the Southern Association of College and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) for another approval.
Once that's given, Del Mar expects to launch the program in Fall 2024.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
