Rice makes major changes to degree programs

By Hongtao Hu     9/10/24 11:01pm

An environmental engineering major and Asian language concentration within the Asian studies major are now offered at Rice. Additionally, the operations research B.A. will convert to a B.S. and the social policy analysis major is now housed within the political science department. These majors are available for declaration this academic year.

Sonia Ryang, director of undergraduate studies for the department of transnational Asian studies, said that the Asian studies major concentration in Asian languages was created to accommodate students who took a variety of Asian language classes. The preexisting Asian studies degree plan counted only four Asian language classes towards the major, which often prevented students already majoring in other subjects from earning a degree in Asian studies.

“Oftentimes, STEM majors still want to take language [classes], but there was no mechanism to give these students any credentials,” Ryang said. “For example, in your transcript, it will show that you’ve taken five Japanese language classes, but you aren’t going to graduate with any major or diploma [in Asian Studies].”

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Students concentrating in Asian languages may take classes in a maximum of two different languages and must take between four and seven courses in each language. The only core requirement for the B.A. is ASIA 295: Introduction to Transnational Asian Studies. 

“We wanted to create an environment where anybody feels that they can pursue Asian languages on the college level,” Ryang said. 

The operations research major has also converted its original B.A. in operations research into a B.S., along with adding a new B.A. with fewer required computer science courses and a new minor in operations research. 

According to the Computational Applied Mathematics and Operations Research website, the B.S. in OR is recommended for those considering graduate school, while the B.A. in OR prepares students who want to work in industry directly after graduation. 

Gavin Daves, an OR major pursuing the new B.S., said that the change could mean an influx of interest in the tight-knit department. 

“I feel like it’s going to bring in even more majors, because beforehand, people that didn’t want to take these classes that were more [graduate school]-based, and they would rather have that industry knowledge and go straight into the workplace,” Daves, a Duncan College junior, said.  “So ultimately, I think it’s gonna be good for the department.”

The department for political science has also expanded to incorporate the social policy analysis major. However, this is mainly an administrative change, according to Steven Perry, the major advisor for SOPA.

“In terms of the student-facing side, nothing is changing,” Perry said. “The classes aren’t changing. The major requirements [aren’t] changing. It was just a back-end change.” 

The change was intended to to give SOPA more resources for administrative support and more funding opportunities, according to Joseph Cozza, the major advisor for political science. 

“Now [students] have access to some resources and funding opportunities that are available through the department of political science, particularly research and travel funding opportunities, research assistantships,” Cozza said.

The department now has two major advisors: Cozza for political science, and Perry for SOPA, so that students pursuing either branch can gain more personalized advice. 

“Through SOPA has moved into the political science department, administratively, it remains interdisciplinary in character, so there will still be course offerings in other departments that will count towards and apply towards the SOPA majors,” Cozza said. 

The department of civil and environmental engineering has also expanded its previously graduate-only environmental engineering program to include an undergraduate major.

The new major is directed at students who want to solve environmental problems from an engineering perspective, Kalil Erazo, an assistant teaching professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering, said.

“There is a big need in the industry for environmental engineers,” Erazo said. “Pretty much anytime where you have a project where you need people to develop solutions for cleaning water, air and solid waste, you need environmental engineers.”

According to ABET, a non-governmental certification organization, “many jurisdictions require graduation from an ABET-accredited program as a minimum qualification for registration to practice because it signifies preparation for entry into the profession.” 

While the environmental engineering major is not currently accredited by ABET, Ezaro said that environmental engineering students will retroactively receive accreditation when the degree is accredited. 

While Rice previously had an environmental engineering graduate program and an energy & water sustainability minor, recent increases in student interest drove the department to offer this new major, Erazo said. 

“In the early 2000s there maybe was not as much interest [in environmental engineering]. But then as research showed climate change and the impact that we have directly on the environment, I think that then people started being more aware,” Erazo said. “I think that people are starting to realize that we do have a fair share of influence on that problem, and that we can develop solutions to solve it.” 

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