Undergraduate Academic Accelerator Pathway (2-Term) - Bachelor of Civil Engineering

at Shorelight Group - Cleveland State University USA

The Urban and Regional Studies major entails the study of America's cities, metropolitan areas, and their people. Students learn about the cultural, political, and historical aspects of urban living and the influence of these factors on the growth and decline of businesses and neighborhoods. Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary program that includes a foundation in urban geography, urban economic and political systems, and social issues.

Concentrations are offered in:

Urban and Regional Planning
Urban planners use their skills in research, design, and development to effect social goals in cities. The urban and regional planning track helps students use the heritage of urban planning to influence urban and regional development. Planners analyze a range of data regarding an area—the economic base, the needs of the people, the available resources, and the effects of change—and make recommendations for action.

Public Management
Public managers develop budgets, strategic plans, policies, and programs for a variety of public and private organizations. The public management track gives students basic management techniques and analytic skills necessary to manage effectively in an urban environment.

Environmental Policy and Management
This track is designed to give students an understanding of the economic, political, and social changes necessary for improving the quality of the physical environment in cities. Courses focus on domestic environmental policies and programs, environmental design, and issues related to sustainable development.

Geographic Information System
A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computerized database management system used for the capture, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of spatial data. GIS is useful to every discipline that utilizes geographic data and is one of the most exciting and rapidly growing computer technologies.

GIS has spread widely into fields such as land use, transportation, utility management, emergency services, natural resource management, environment, demographics, public safety and public health, market and business location, housing, and real estate. With digital representation of spatial entities and their spatial relationships in GIS database, GIS are used to improve services, assist in managing resources, and provide support for better decision-making and policy-planning activities.

History is the essential foundation of knowledge. It provides the context for a liberal education, the tools to understand ourselves and our contemporary world, and the skills for an educated person to live a more fulfilled and gratifying life in a wide range of careers.

Because of these various functions, we study history for many reasons:

• To better understand our society and the times in which we live
• To better understand ourselves; to place our own society in historical perspective
• To balance present-mindedness with historical memory
• To acquire skills such as conducting research, communicating effectively through writing or oral communication, critical thinking, evaluating evidence, and problem-solving
• To understand the roles which individuals and groups have played in shaping their worlds
• For the enjoyment of examining societies very different or very similar to our own

This is possible because history at the university level is far more than a collection of facts, names, and dates. The emphasis is on accessing and analyzing information, the critical use of historical sources, learning to communicate the results, and the excitement which comes from exploring important ideas. To study history is to enter a time machine to explore the far reaches of the human experience from classical times to the present; from the lives of great thinkers and kings to that of average people; from dramatic moments such as the Civil War to the routine. The past becomes the universe, all corners of which can be explored.

The department offers coursework in European, U.S., African, Latin-American, and East Asian history and thematic foci on social and urban history and the History of the African Diaspora. The major program not only prepares students for teaching and for graduate study in history but many students have found history an appropriate preparatory foundation for careers in law, library science, international work, the foreign service, the ministry, business, government and archival and museum work.

Biology is a diverse discipline, ranging from the molecular biology and biochemistry of individual cells to the functioning of organisms and entire ecosystems. The Biology major at Cleveland State University provides education in the fundamentals of all the major areas of modern Biology and training in current laboratory skills, while at the same time allowing students some freedom to tailor an individual plan of study.

The Communication Studies major provides students with a critical understanding of the complex, vital role that communication plays in contemporary life. Course-work offers students a host of intellectual, problem-solving, and career-related skills. In contemporary society, which is characterized by a dazzling array of new technologies, rapid social change, instant messaging, and dynamic interpersonal relationships, it is imperative that students appreciate the ways communication influences everyday life. Students who obtain a major in communication will take classes from a nationally ranked faculty and gain an appreciation for the social scientific study of communication.

There are two tracks in the major. The Communication Management track focuses on understanding and improving communication processes in a variety of contexts, including doctor-patient interactions, organizations, teams, families, interpersonal relationships, negotiation and mediation settings, and communication between persons from different cultures, genders, and ethnicities. The Communication track supports students who have widely ranging interests or who need maximum flexibility in scheduling. In addition to the areas mentioned above, students in this track may take coursework in journalism and public relations.

• Spanish is the world's third most spoken language, after Mandarin Chinese and English, and ranks second in terms of native speakers.
• At the end of the 19th century, 60 million people spoke Spanish. Today, almost 500 million people worldwide speak Spanish!
• Spanish is the mother tongue of approximately 350 million people in 21 countries (Mexico: 98 million, Spain: 39 million, USA: 39 million, Argentina: 35 million, Colombia: 36 million, Venezuela: 22 million, Peru: 20 million…) It is also widely spoken in many more where it is not an official language.
• Hispanic consumers are the fastest-growing market segment in North America. Their population in the USA has grown by 60% in just one decade and their buying power is expected to exceed $926 million by 2007.
• Spanish is the second most used language in international communication, and an official language of the UN and its organisations.
• 29 million US residents above the age of 5 speak Spanish at home. That's approximately 1 of every 10 US residents, an enormous consumer and business-to-business market.
• "The world is rapidly becoming multilingual and Arabic and Spanish are both key languages of the future" said language researcher David Graddol, commenting on a recent report presented to the British Council.
• No one aware of the changing tides of business could fail to notice that we increasingly operate in global markets. Foreign language fluency is a significant asset for job seekers, as more and more companies trade internationally.
• The US Census Bureau reports that the nation's Hispanic population is expected to jump to 49.3 million from 38.2 million by 2015. The 39 million Hispanics currently living in the USA make up 12.5% of the total population. This population growth has increased demand for Spanish language media: radio, television, newspapers, magazines...
• Latin American countries are experiencing strong economic growth and becoming important global commercial partners. Newly created MERCOSUR and the existing free trade agreements between Hispanic countries and North America (ALADI, the Andean Community, CACM, NAFTA, G3), are expected to bring further growth to Latin American economies.
• Latin culture continues to have a global influence on architecture, art and literature. Who isn't familiar with Cervantes 'Don Quijote de la Mancha, the second most translated book after the Bible, which marked its 400th anniversary in 2005 with worldwide celebrations? Who hasn't heard that the most expensive painting ever sold is a Picasso?
• Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava continues to make his mark worldwide, with recent and current projects in Sweden, Ireland, Germany, the Olympic campus in Athens and the site of the world trade centre in New York, among others.
• Spanish language authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende continue to lead global best seller lists and win international critical acclaim.

Mathematicians use theory, computational techniques, algorithms and computer technology to solve problems in various fields, including basic sciences, engineering, computer science, economics, business, finance, and social sciences. The study of mathematics is traditionally divided into pure (theoretical) mathematics, which involves discovering new mathematical principles and relationships, and applied mathematics, which develops mathematical techniques for solving practical problems. Statistics is a sub-field of applied mathematics that focuses on data analysis.

The School of Communication offers a Journalism and Promotional Communication (JPC) major with the two different sequences that provides specialization in journalism and promotional communication.

Journalism Sequence Students in the journalism sequence learn knowledge and skills essential to succeed in a digital newsroom, including hands-on training in digital tools used in reporting, writing, data analysis, multimedia content production, and audience engagement via social media. The theory courses focus on learning and understanding the relationship among news media, society, politics and economy. Promotional Communication Sequence: Promotional Communication students develop expertise in a wide range of strategic communication techniques. Our majors are well-versed in diverse communication specialties including advertising, public relations, visual communication, digital metrics, social media and content marketing. They learn social scientific theories that inform persuasion strategies and campaigns.

The English major equips students to understand the historical, cultural, and social context of literature, as well as to excel in their own writing. Studying literature fosters critical thinking, oral and written communication skills, and an understanding of how language shapes our world, from daily interactions, workplaces, to the creative arts.

The Public Safety Management major is designed to equip public safety officials with additional management and communication skills to address the needs of their urban constituents. It provides an in-depth study of community safety needs and problems, as well as analytical tools for addressing injustice for those living and working in urban settings.

The Public Safety Management Major is designed to:

• Prepare both pre-career and active public safety personnel for leadership roles in public safety organizations.
• Allow for in-depth study of community safety needs and introduce analytical tools for developing response strategies for use in emergency situations.
• Promote understanding of policy tools to protect the safety and well-being of our communities.

The Bachelor of Arts in Physics degree is designed to prepare students for a broad range of technical/science careers or graduate professional programs (medical physics, patent processing, teaching). It is constructed to give an in-depth and broad look into the world of Physics, while aiming for a very flexible schedule of classes.

The study of physics provides a crucial understanding of the world around us though the study of the fundamental laws governing matter and energy. The field of physics has been instrumental in the development of advanced materials, electronic and optical devices, and medical equipment, impacting every aspect of our way of life. Studying physics fosters critical thinking, quantitative proficiency, and the ability to research and organize information, and infer new ideas.