(68c) A Flexible Chemical Engineering Curriculum

Six years ago the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina embarked in a major revision of its undergraduate curriculum. The result of this effort was a curriculum that prepares our students for industry and graduate school, meets ABET and AIChE accreditation requirements, can be completed in four years without advanced placement credit or summer courses, is compatible with a co-op experience, keeps a strong foundation in the sciences and liberal arts, and provides our students with the flexibility they need to pursue their particular interests. The curriculum offers chemical engineering courses in the freshman year and shifts some of the pressure from the senior year to the junior year in order to better allow seniors to interview for industry or graduate school. Some important components of this curriculum are five sets of elective courses (with a total of 44 semester credit hours): engineering electives (6 semester credit hours), chemistry electives (6 semester credit hours), chemistry lab electives (2 semester credit hours), liberal arts electives (18 semester credit hours) and ?technical electives? (12 semester credit hours). ?Technical electives? are courses in engineering, math, chemistry, biology, and other sciences chosen from an approved list. When the curriculum was introduced, the majority of the undergraduates who had a choice between the old and the new curriculum chose the new one, and the flexibility of the new curriculum has allowed our students to pursue their interest in math, chemistry, biology, pre-med, economics or other areas without having to go beyond the total of 131 semester credit hours. The curriculum has served our students well and we have not had to make any major changes to it since its adoption.