Bachelor of Science in Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering (STEM)

at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville USA

The department and outdoor venues on our beautiful campus, situated on 2,660 acres, provide excellent opportunities for innovative biological study. The College of Arts and Sciences' outdoor classroom consists of a 75-acre lake, a 35-acre botanical garden and 380 acres of forest and restored grasslands set aside as a nature preserve. The Department of Biological Sciences is located in Science Building West, a modern, science education facility with fully equipped teaching and research labs. The department is also equipped with state-of-the-art technology in microscopy, physiology, histology, cell biology, microbiology, genetics and toxicology research, and includes extensive botanical and zoological teaching collections. Opportunities for plant and animal research are available in our greenhouse and vivarium facilities.

What can I do with a degree in Biological Sciences?
Numerous career and advanced training opportunities are available to persons holding a master’s degree in biology. These include doctoral training in biology and in the health sciences; secondary and junior college teaching; environmental assessment; and employment in educational, industrial, and governmental laboratories and agencies.

The environmental sciences undergraduate program, in the College of Arts and Sciences at SIUE, is interdisciplinary, and is designed to cultivate students' perspectives of environmental issues, and to provide them with refined knowledge of environmental issues on a local, regional and global scale. The curriculum within the Department of Environmental Sciences will increase students’ technical competence in addressing these environmental issues, their origins, ramifications and resolutions. The program will promote experiential learning and professional education to prepare students for career opportunities in a wide variety of workplaces.

What can I do with a degree in Environmental Sciences?
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment of environmental scientists and specialists is projected to grow 8% through 2028, which is faster than the average for all occupations in the U.S. Graduates with a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts with specializations in environmental health, environmental toxicology and environmental management will have career opportunities in their areas of interest. For example, a licensed environmental health practitioner can be employed for inspection, sampling and reporting for sanitary, food safety, sewage and waste disposal, drinking water, pest control, or industrial hygiene.

Environmental Management
The environmental management specialization prepares students for careers in management and protection of natural resources, and for providing services related to environmental quality and sustainability. The curriculum offers an interdisciplinary approach to deal with various environmental management issues, including:

• Pollution control
• Regulations
• Remediation
• Hazardous waste disposal
• Sustainability

The program also includes hands-on technical training, such as geographic information systems (GIS) and environmental risk assessment. Examples of careers for graduates include environmental consultants; environmental educators; social and environmental impact analysts; resource policy analysts; natural resource planners; managers of wildlife, parks, forests and rangelands; conservation officers; watershed managers; soil conservationists; and sustainability officers.

The study of history begins with questions about the past; how things came to be as they are or were. These questions can contribute to a greater understanding of ourselves, others and the world in which we live.

Historians approach the study of the past from various perspectives, but all analyze the patterns and causes of change in human thought and action across space and time and the consequences of those changes. Some, working within or across national histories, focus on the trajectory of particular social institutions, such as the family, government, business or religion. Alternately, historians can investigate the historical development of ideologies or of cultural concepts such as race or gender. Historians borrow investigative strategies freely from other disciplines. For some historians, the methodologies of the social sciences become critical tools for the study of the past, while others prefer a historical approach involving the methods of the humanities and literature. Most adopt some mixture of methodologies.

In the College of Arts and Sciences at SIUE, the Department of History emphasizes the study of primary sources beginning with our freshman-level survey labs, through the senior research projects. We also provide numerous opportunities for hands-on learning through class projects and internships at many venues in the greater St. Louis region and in the Metro East. A specialization in applied historical methods is also available for those interested in museums, editing and digital technology. The social science secondary education minor for licensure in teaching is housed in the Department of History.

What can I do with a degree in History?
Traditionally, a bachelor’s degree in history was thought to primarily provide a knowledge base for two careers: licensure in teaching, or as a foundation for attending law school. While teaching and attending law school are still viable options for students with a degree in history, the degree is becoming broadly recognized as a foundation for many other careers. Students are pursuing careers in local, state and federal government, including the Foreign Service and city or town management; nonprofit organizations; politics, including political advising; curatorial and archival management in libraries, museums and art galleries; media, public relations, digital editing and film consulting; and business, in corporate training and development.

The environmental sciences undergraduate program, in the College of Arts and Sciences at SIUE, is interdisciplinary, and is designed to cultivate students' perspectives of environmental issues, and to provide them with refined knowledge of environmental issues on a local, regional and global scale. The curriculum within the Department of Environmental Sciences will increase students’ technical competence in addressing these environmental issues, their origins, ramifications and resolutions. The program will promote experiential learning and professional education to prepare students for career opportunities in a wide variety of workplaces.

What can I do with a degree in Environmental Sciences?
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment of environmental scientists and specialists is projected to grow 8% through 2028, which is faster than the average for all occupations in the U.S. Graduates with a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts with specializations in environmental health, environmental toxicology and environmental management will have career opportunities in their areas of interest. For example, a licensed environmental health practitioner can be employed for inspection, sampling and reporting for sanitary, food safety, sewage and waste disposal, drinking water, pest control, or industrial hygiene.

Environmental Health
The environmental health specialization provides students with the education necessary to identify, evaluate and control (prevent or mitigate) environmental conditions which may have significant impacts on human health. Examples of the problem areas requiring environmental health expertise are:

• Maintaining adequate quality and quantities of food and drinking water.
• Safe treatment and disposal of domestic and industrial waste materials.
• Limiting or reducing air and noise pollution.
• Reducing occupational exposure to hazardous substances and unsafe conditions.
• Assuring safe and healthful housing.
• Controlling the spread of insect and rodent-borne illnesses.
• Proper selection and use of pesticides.
• Understanding the effects of global climate changes on human health.

Faculty in the Department of Music believe students in undergraduate academic programs in music should receive a comprehensive musical background that includes cultural knowledge through the general education program, individual performance, ensemble performance, scholarly studies in music theory and history/literature, and where applicable, teacher education courses. The intent is to develop skilled and informed musicians, able scholars, and excellent and enthusiastic teachers.

The Bachelor of Music curriculum prepares students for professional careers and advanced graduate study in music performance and music education. The Bachelor of Arts, designed for students who wish to specialize in music within a liberal arts curriculum, may serve as the foundation for advanced studies in music.

The study of communication involves the development of theories and research tools to analyze, explain and improve human interaction. The applied communication studies program is offered in the College of Arts and Sciences through the Department of Applied Communication Studies. Departmental courses focus on two-person interaction, small-group decision making, communication patterns in organizations and other complex systems, public relations, and speaker-audience interaction in public speaking.

What can I do with a degree in Applied Communication Studies?
In America, employers increasingly recognize the need for more effective communication. As a result, job opportunities for graduates trained in applied communication studies are prevalent in business and industry, government agencies, educational systems, nonprofit organizations, and community-based resource centers. Graduates often have several career choices. Examples of communication careers departmental graduates have entered are: teaching and administration; management, training and consulting in organizations; public relations; human relations and employee assistance programs; sales; and government service. Graduates find employment in various types of for-profit and nonprofit organizations locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Applied communication is also an in-demand minor for students majoring in areas such as, business, mass communications, political science and sociology. Our graduates are also well-prepared for graduate school.

Track Option: Public Relations
Students in the public relations track will study under a model program, designed to meet and exceed national guidelines for undergraduate public relations education described in Public Relations Education for the 21st Century: A Port of Entry, sponsored by the Commission on Public Relations Education. This track stresses written, oral, graphic, and technological applications of communication skills. Elements of the program are designed to keep entry-level students in touch with upper-division students, and past graduates in touch with all students. In addition, students will experience the "paired course" concept, an idea that helps students integrate materials across their sequence of study. And finally, students may join SIUE's award-winning chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), which is affiliated with the national professional association, Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

The Master of Science in nutrition and dietetics coordinated program is designed for students who wish to earn a master's degree while gaining eligibility to become a registered dietitian and pursue careers as entry-level dietitians. The nutrition and dietetics program is offered through the Department of Applied Health in the School of Education, Health and Human Behavior. The program combines graduate-level coursework in nutrition with the clinical curriculum and supervised practice that allows graduates to sit for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics examination for registered dietitians. This program is also ideal for those students who have earned a BS degree in another field but are now interested in becoming a registered dietitian or those who graduated with a BS in nutrition and were not matched for a dietetic internship.

What can I do with a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics?
Students graduating with a master's degree and passing the RD exam can pursue careers in clinical dietetics, community and public health, consulting, private practice, food and nutrition business industry, food service, food management, research and education, sports and wellness nutrition, or corporate wellness.

Sports Nutrition
The master's in nutrition and dietetics coordinated program has a concentration in sports nutrition. Our students gain a better understanding of physiology and the physiology of exercise to benefit all patients and clients. With additional recognition of the importance of nutrition at all levels of fitness and competition, sports dietitians will continue to be in demand. Graduates of SIUE’s program will be uniquely positioned to meet these needs.

Economics is a social science that examines the decision-making process regarding the use of scarce resources such as land, raw materials, labor, machinery, physical structures, etc. At SIUE, students choosing to major in economics will pursue a core program of courses designed to provide a thorough grounding in economic theory. This core program of study is followed by more specialized study in such areas as money and banking, labor and industrial relations, international economics, public finance, industrial organization, and antitrust policy. Our economics students also receive strong training in data analysis, and most upper-level courses involve a project in which students solidify their economics knowledge and research skills. Students develop their programs with the counsel of a faculty advisor.

Students pursuing economics at SIUE will complete a course of study designed to lay a foundation in both microeconomics and macroeconomics. Supply and demand, pricing, and the tools utilized to predict the effects of government interventions and regulations on the markets are only a few of the questions that can be answered through the study of microeconomics. The examination of the national economy, including economic growth, unemployment, and factors that affect inflation, fall under the area of macroeconomics. Also included in the study of macroeconomics are domestic factors, such as monetary and fiscal policies, as well as international factors, such as trade and exchange rates.

What can I do with a degree in Economics?
Many career opportunities are available to students graduating with a degree in economics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that opportunities for well-prepared economists will grow 14% through 2022. Career opportunities will be best for students with strong analytical skills, related work experience, and those who choose to further their education and attend graduate school or pursue a PhD. Although most students will go on to pursue graduate and doctoral education, some entry-level opportunities, primarily in the federal government, are available for those with a bachelor’s degree.

The mass communications program in the College of Arts and Sciences at SIUE prepares students to succeed in careers in one of the fastest growing and most dynamic areas: the mass media.

The Department of Mass Communications at SIUE is accredited by the highly selective Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC). This means our students get one-on-one attention from their instructors due to small class sizes and curriculum that keeps with changes in the media industry. Our students have access to state-of-the-art facilities and faculty members who dedicate themselves to serving the professional and intellectual needs of the students.

The Department of Mass Communications offers three sequences: journalism, media production, and advertising and strategic media. While most of the curriculum is a shared experience by all majors, students take advanced courses specific to their chosen sequence. This approach is in keeping with the converged nature of today’s media industries. At its heart, our department is all about teaching students how to tell stories, whether in the form of advertising campaigns, news stories, documentaries, or any of an almost limitless use of this major. Students who major in mass communications but choose not to enter the media industry will be well-prepared, thoughtful and effective communicators.

What can I do with a degree in Mass Communications?
Graduates of the Department of Mass Communications choose various career paths. Our graduates have become reporters, editors and photojournalists for newspapers, magazines, and online publications. Others work in radio and television, for advertising agencies, and in marketing and communications positions at major corporations and non-profits; many become the social media experts in their positions. Some graduates take an entrepreneurial approach and create careers as independent videographers, event planners, graphic designers, web developers, and freelance communications specialists.

Faculty in the Department of Music believe students in undergraduate academic programs in music should receive a comprehensive musical background that includes cultural knowledge through the general education program, individual performance, ensemble performance, scholarly studies in music theory and history/literature, and where applicable, teacher education courses. The intent is to develop skilled and informed musicians, able scholars, and excellent and enthusiastic teachers.

The Bachelor of Music curriculum prepares students for professional careers and advanced graduate study in music performance and music education. The Bachelor of Arts, designed for students who wish to specialize in music within a liberal arts curriculum, may serve as the foundation for advanced studies in music.

Musical Theater
The Departments of Music and Theater and Dance collaborate to provide a stimulating curriculum including courses in acting, singing and dance taught by faculty in both departments. Students at SIUE take advantage of performance opportunities in musicals, operas, operettas, plays, vocal ensembles, dance concerts and student organizations.

Musical theater thrives at SIUE in the summer months as well. Every summer, SIUE Summer Showbiz produces professionally cast musicals under the direction of SIUE faculty. The Department of Music also hosts a week-long Musical Theater Workshop in the summer. The workshop provides participants with an in-depth experience of professional musical theater training in voice, dance, audition technique and monologue selection.

Students specializing in musical theater are trained in the central principles and performance skills necessary for a career in the theater or entertainment industry. These skills are then developed and cultivated through performance opportunities. Career possibilities include working as an actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, director or fine arts teacher.