Merging of Schools: STEM Degree Concerns in North Georgia

[kickthatbike]

So we (students) were informed recently of a merging of two schools in north Georgia, SPSU and KSU. SPSU is a science/tech/engineering school, while KSU is... not so much. Everyone is panicking thinking that a STEM degree from what is normally known as a liberal arts college would look bad. Is this a legitimate concern? Or is a STEM degree from most universities just as good, pending good grades, extracurriculars, research, etc. etc. etc.?

 

[jtbell]

What changes will there be among your STEM faculty, courses, degree requirements, and research opportunities?

 

[kickthatbike]

I guess there's no good answer to that currently. However, the department chair is quite concerned for his job. The upside would be that there are some quite accomplished physics professors at KSU, as well as some decent science tracks for chem/biochem. And because KSU already has some thesis based graduate programs for these departments, they obviously have some funding/research. It's possible that they could take the physics department and do something similar, which would be excellent. The downside is a possible change of curriculum, some of the current staff losing their jobs, they could possibly decide to do nothing at all with the physics program or drop it, and KSU has a somewhat lower standard of academic performance in the STEM subjects. But if nothing really changes, outside of more funding and the school changing their name, would a STEM degree coming from a liberal arts college really be as bad as everyone's making it out to be?

 

[Shivam3013]

For the most part, a STEM degree from a liberal arts college wouldn't look quite nice. The fact remains that since the schools are merging, the information taught won't differ by much. I wouldn't worry about it too much (unless I had options to go to more reputed universities). You can make up for it by doing research, publications, a good GPA etc. However, if the way they taught the material will change after the merging, then I would consider some other college/university.

 

[Andy Resnick]

So we (students) were informed recently of a merging of two schools in north Georgia, SPSU and KSU. SPSU is a science/tech/engineering school, while KSU is... not so much. Everyone is panicking thinking that a STEM degree from what is normally known as a liberal arts college would look bad. Is this a legitimate concern? Or is a STEM degree from most universities just as good, pending good grades, extracurriculars, research, etc. etc. etc.?

Without more information, it's impossible to say how this will affect you. Where are you in terms of graduation, and what is the merger timeline? You are right to be concerned with how a major institutional change will impact your career and there should be some sort of 'student liaison', possibly in the advising office, that can answer questions like: "will I still be able to graduate on time?"

In terms of the 'value' of your degree, ultimately it's your responsibility to create value. This can be done by thinking strategically- what do you want to do next, and how does your undergraduate experience qualify you for that?