Modern approaches to the planning, analysis and design of highways, structures, hydraulic systems and site development will be emphasized. This technical instruction with modern instrumentation, hardware and software will be reinforced with foundation courses emphasizing written and oral communication, physics, chemistry, fluid mechanics, statics, dynamics, engineering economics, ethics and calculus, as well as subjects in the humanities, social sciences and the arts. All the instruction is presented with problem solving in mind and strong emphasis on applications and critical thinking. The major is designed so that first-year students can enter the curriculum once prerequisites are satisfied. Students with associate degrees in Surveying or Civil Engineering Technology can also enter the curriculum as juniors, generally with no loss of credit hours previously earned.
Graduates can seek employment in a wide range of civil engineering specialties.
These include the design of steel and concrete structures, stormwater runoff and hydraulic design, soils testing and geotechnical design, construction inspection and highway design. To support these and other activities are people applying skills in surveying, map making and the synthesis of geographic information with other data types such as demographic, taxation, transportation and census data. Local municipality planning and engineering agencies will also offer opportunities for employment. People seeking self-employment opportunities will be aided by education leading to licensure as a Land Surveyor or a Professional Engineer. It is suggested that students thinking about entering this major be tested in mathematics early enough so that remedial precalculus coursework could be taken the summer before enrollment at Penn College.