January 31, 2000

Bowling Green, Ky. -- A new bachelor's degree program in applied technology will give more students the tools to become successful, the head of Western Kentucky University's Department of Industrial Technology says.

"We want to give them those skills and abilities they need to become more effective in the workplace," Terry Leeper said.

The program, approved Jan. 28 by Western's Board of Regents, will provide seamless education between Kentucky's technical colleges and Western. Students who've earned an associate's degree in applied technology or applied science won't lose credit when they transfer to Western, Dr. Leeper said.

The degree program will begin in the 2000 fall semester. "It's going to impact the department significantly I think in terms of growth, in terms of numbers of majors," Dr. Leeper said. He anticipates that 250 people will pursue the degree within two or three years.

The program expands services to two groups: students who want to stay in school to finish a four-year degree and former students who to return to school for additional technical training required for employment advancement.

University officials began work on the proposal after a request from Elizabethtown Technical College. "Their director said, ‘Is there a way that people graduating from our technical programs can move right into Western and get a four-year degree?' " Dr. Leeper said.

The program was developed with the cooperation of the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. "They're excited that

Western has taken the lead in the state on this in putting this program together," Dr. Leeper said.

In the past Western has had transfer agreements to accept some technical coursework, but students in this program won't lose any credit for classes already taken, he said. "It'll be more inviting for the technical programs all across the state," Dr. Leeper said.

The applied technology degree will encompass several technical programs and include general education requirements, Dr. Leeper said. "The reason we used the term applied technology is it's a broad term," he said.
For example, Elizabethtown Technical College's associate degree covers 16 technical programs, from welding to radiography, Dr. Leeper said. Applied technology students are not researchers, but "they deal with the practical application of technology in the workplace," he said.
Reaction from industry has been positive to the applied technology program that will improve the workplace and train employees for job advancement, Dr. Leeper said. Technical courses will include classes in problem solving, production quality, productivity, teamwork that would allow employees to move into supervisory positions.
"We hope to deliver most of the technical and general education type classes within the communities where these young people are located," such as Elizabethtown, Owensboro, Glasgow and other areas, Dr. Leeper said. Classes will be delivered by faculty who'll travel to those communities and by faculty who'll teach distance-learning or web-based courses, he said.
"We're finding the success of many programs is in large part due to being able to deliver the instruction where it is needed," Dr. Leeper said.