Engineering degrees offered at distance

Forget the classroom and chalkboard. For those who absolutely, positively can't leave home, Mississippi State offers advanced engineering degrees by video tape and interactive video instead of traditional on-campus classes.

A distance-learning program allows students to pursue master's and doctoral degrees in the departments of Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Computer, Industrial and Mechanical Engineering. A planned sequence of courses leads to a master's or a doctoral degree over a three- or four-calendar-year period.

"A strong distance-learning program is particularly important to a rural state such as Mississippi," explained Dr. Clayborne Taylor, associate dean of engineering for research and graduate studies. "Most practicing engineers in the state are likely to be working at locations more than a hundred miles from the nearest university campus with a graduate engineering program."

About 60 to 70 students participate in the program each semester, said Rusty Foster, coordinator of MSU's engineering distance education program.

Interactive video classes are available at the Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg. A second interactive site is planned for the Stennis Space Center.

Howard Industries in Laurel, the nation's leading manufacturer of distribution transformers, is one of the newest members of the College of Engineering's distance education program. The company, which has 3,000 employees, recently completed a new video conferencing center. It will offer courses for Howard employees and members of the community later this year.

"The conferencing center will allow our employees and members of the public to take advanced courses in electrical engineering and other areas of interest," says company president Linda Howard.

A proctor at the interactive sites administers tests. An approved proctor, usually an education professional, can be provided for testing students at other locations.

Participants in the interactive video classes have direct conversations with their instructors through microphones located at each desk. Students also may communicate with instructors by e-mail, telephone or fax.

The program was organized to provide advanced engineering courses to persons in Mississippi, but students from more than a dozen other states have enrolled in the video courses since they began in 1986.

For additional information on the College of Engineering's off-campus graduate program, call 325-3825.