Engineering v. Engineering Technology

     COAS has recently hired Dr. Pete Rim as the program director for our newest degree option, Engineering Technology. One of the most frequently asked questions is “What is the difference between engineering and engineering technology?”  According to ABET, an accrediting agency for both engineering and engineering technology, engineering is a theoretical and conceptual approach, whereas engineering technology is a more application and implementation approach. Dr. Rim anticipates our graduates will enter fields such as design, robotics, electronics, automated manufacturing, engineering management, and green energy. If you would like more information about this new degree offering, contact Dr. Pete Rim at prim@una.edu.

Social Work Collaboration in the Shoals

    Dr. John Hodges, Social Work department chair, and his students are very involved within the Shoals community. Hodges and his students assist in different areas, ranging from work in schools to help with the homeless population, and from hospice and healthcare to program evaluations. For example, they assist with the Florence City Schools HOPE Program, which provides at-risk students with a support system and the help they need to graduate. 

     Hodges’s projects benefit the community by providing solutions to staffing problems and assistance where the budget may be the issue. Of all he and his department are involved with, he feels that field internships are just “the feather in the cap.”  They are “the Hallmark of social work.”  Students get their own hands-on experience through spending long hours doing what they have learned in the classroom. At the end of the day, they can say they did the work while benefiting the community and bettering themselves by having the experience they will need for their career.