Collegiate Times

Koelling emphasized that the program was designed to ensure neither side would be forced to make sacrifices, perhaps explaining the length of the planning stages.

“Every student in that program meets or exceeds, actually exceeds, our requirements for a master’s degree anyway,” Koelling said. “When we designed it, we wanted to make sure neither program compromised in any way.”

Unlike the current industrial and systems engineering program, which on a given year sees between 35 and 50 new students, Koelling said he expected the number of students attempting the dual-degree to be smaller.

“I think it’s going to be really successful, in high demand,” Koelling said. “The challenge is that it will be very selective. We don’t see the program being very large. We don’t expect to see more than five or 10 new students enter the program each year.

“Generally each fall we have anywhere between 35 and 50 new students in our graduate program. So this is quite small in comparison. It accommodates those students much better. It is not designed for students who have working experience. They can move right into it ... without a problem.”

Admission-wise, students must meet the guidelines and criteria of both programs to be accepted, though unlike many graduate degree tracks, Skripak and Koelling’s program is not catered to a student who has just finished their undergraduate degree.

“We generally like to have students with work experience,” Skripak said. “(Approximately) 75 percent of our students, depending on the year, have worked at least one year in the business world. It makes them more ready. They are more able to contribute to class discussions and relate the academic concepts to something they have lived through.”

The process for establishing the dual-degree was done entirely through the university. Because the program came from entities inside of Tech, Skripak said there was never a need to introduce a higher outside authority.

“Both of our college committees had to review and approve, but after that its pretty much a done deal,” Skripak said. “We also did a two degree program with (Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine), but that one had to go through the University Commission on Graduate Studies and Policies.”

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A version of this article appeared in the Feb 4 issue of the Collegiate Times.