New Technical and Applied Studies degree at Lake Campus

Working adults, students with applied or technical associate degrees and others looking for credentials in agriculture, commerce or graphic design can now earn a bachelor’s degree through a new offering at Wright State University’s Lake Campus.

The Lake Campus in Celina, Ohio, was recently granted approval by the Ohio Board of Regents to offer a bachelor’s degree in Technical and Applied Studies. The degree was developed in response to current and future career preparation needs identified by students, employers and Lake Campus-area residents. It is designed to offer a mixture of broad-based business skills as well as specialized training in fields of local employment.

The “BTAS” degree is composed of three components:

• general education courses such as natural science, communication, social sciences and math
• classes focused on organizational and applied business skills
• specialized classes based on the respective concentrations of agriculture, commerce and graphics

Students selecting the agriculture degree will select agricultural classes such as agronomy, animal science, agricultural economics and food science. Students pursuing commerce will take specialized classes in accounting, management science, marketing  and more. Those in graphics will utilize coursework in photography, visual media, marketing and illustration.

Programs will be led by faculty members Cindy Berelsman, Greg Homan and Roger Fulk.

Berelsman, who has over 20 years’ teaching experience in business, graphics and visual media and marketing, said, “Many of our students have expressed interest in a technical and applied studies degree, and now they can pursue the model at Lake Campus.”

Homan began his career as an extension agent with Ohio State University Extension and has been at the Lake Campus the past five years, while Fulk has compiled 30 years’ experience in business education and office information systems.

“The BTAS degree is designed to enable students to complete their education at the Lake Campus. Most students in the program will either transfer coursework from another college or will have first completed an associate’s degree at Lake Campus,” said Bonnie Mathies, Ph.D, Lake Campus dean.

Students can prepare for entry into the program with background coursework or with the completion of one of Lake Campus’ existing associate’s degree programs in such areas as graphics and visual media, agriculture, business administration, management or marketing, Mathies added.

All classes will be offered at the Lake Campus through a variety of methods, including applied laboratory activities, classroom lecture and discussion, online coursework and industry guest speakers. Some of the courses will be delivered in an accelerated one-night-per-week model.

“We are excited to meet local needs with the delivery of these new degree options,” said Mathies. “The Lake Campus is focused on preparing graduates for the jobs of today and tomorrow throughout the region.”

Interested students can contact program chairs Greg Homan (Agriculture Studies) (419) 586-0344; Cynthia Berelsman (Graphic Design) (419) 586-0343; or Roger Fulk (Commerce) (419) 586-0313. Visit http://www.wright.edu/lake/ for more information.