Chattanooga, TN (December 16, 2015) --- The University of Tennessee’s Industrial and Systems Engineering Department in partnership with Chattanooga State’s Engineering Technology Division, recently announced an exciting new “2+2” pathway for students interested in a career as an Industrial Engineer. The new articulation agreement will provide Chattanooga State students completing the Associate of Applied Science in Applied Science - General Engineering, an opportunity to transfer to the Knoxville campus as a junior into the Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering program.   

According to Tim McGhee, Dean of the Engineering Technology Division at Chattanooga State, “This is an extraordinary opportunity for our students. Our students can now earn their associate degree in Chattanooga in preparation for transfer to the premier Industrial Engineering program in the State.” McGhee added, “Dr. Kobza and his team did a tremendous job working with our faculty during the development of this partnership.”  

“The addition of ‘2+2’ pathways from our community colleges to our universities is in keeping with the spirit of Governor Haslam’s ‘Drive to 55’ initiative and will maximize our student’s options in choosing a STEM career pathway with support from the Tennessee Promise scholarship,” stated Dr. Flora Tydings, Chattanooga State president. Tennessee Promise is a last-dollar scholarship that will cover college costs not met from Pell, HOPE, or TSAA.

Dr. John Kobza, Department Head of Industrial and Systems Engineering at UTK stated, “The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at UT-Knoxville is excited to be partnering with Chattanooga State Community College to provide a pathway to our industrial engineering degree. Chattanooga State is well known for their strong technical programs and we feel their general engineering students will be extremely well prepared to transfer to UTK and succeed in our industrial engineering program.”  

For more information about this new and exciting opportunity, please contact the Chattanooga State Engineering Technology Division at 423-697-4434 or the UT-Knoxville Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at 865-974-3333.