Ala. community colleges may offer new associate engineering degree

    Alabama’s community colleges may offer new
associate’s degree in engineering next fall to meet industry
demand.

    Figures from Gov. Bob Riley’s Office of Workforce Development
show that Alabama needs 1,100 new engineers a year. Alabama
Community College System Chancellor Bradley Byrne recently
organized a meeting among deans at some of the state’s four-year
and two-year colleges to come up with a way to increase the number
of engineering graduates.

    Kenneth Swinney, a Bevill State Community College physics and
engineering teacher, was appointed to head a task force that will
study an associate’s degree.

    Any proposed degree program must be approved by the state Board
of Education.