History
Program History
The Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) program at Georgia Southern emerged from a 40-year tradition established by offering a TAC of ABET-accredited Mechanical Engineering Technology program and nearly 25 years of offering engineering sciences courses for transfer to the Georgia Institute of Technology as a member university of the University System of Georgia Regents’ Engineering Transfer Program (RETP) – now known as the Regents’ Engineering Pathway (REP) Program.
A Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree at Georgia Southern was approved by the University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents (BOR) in 2010, with the inaugural semester being the Fall of 2011. The emphasis of the new degree program continued with the applied skills, techniques, and engineering science perspectives that graduates and regional industries had come to expect and appreciate from our mechanical engineering technology graduates
With the launch of the new engineering programs at Georgia Southern in 2011, the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Technology Department was reorganized as an administrative unit, and it became the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in the Spring of 2011.
As a result of a faculty proposal, the College of Engineering and Information Technology (CEIT) was created in the Spring of 2011. Elements of the College of Science and Technology (Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering) and the College of Information Technology (Computer Science and IT) were brought together to form the new college. With the formation of the new college, the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Department was split into two separate, stand-alone departments.
The Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) program on the Statesboro Campus received accreditation from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) in 2012 and has maintained accreditation since. Our department has over 1000 students working on an undergraduate or graduate mechanical engineering degree.
Consolidation of Armstrong State University and Georgia Southern University
In 2018, Georgia Southern University completed a University System Board of Regents-mandated consolidation with Armstrong State University in Savannah, GA. Armstrong State became Georgia Southern’s Armstrong Campus, located 55 miles from the Statesboro Campus. Armstrong State offered courses in the Regents’ Engineering Transfer Program for nearly two decades, and the Armstrong campus continues to offer the REP Program. During consolidation, the College of Engineering and Information Technology (CEIT) was renamed the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) to better reflect the mission and vision of the college as well as its program offerings.
Upon Consolidation, the Mechanical Engineering faculty based in Savannah became integral to a single Mechanical Engineering Department with their Statesboro faculty counterparts. As part of a Regional Academic Needs Plan in 2017, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents directed the Department of Mechanical Engineering to begin offering lower-division courses on the Armstrong Campus, with students transferring to the Statesboro Campus to complete their degrees. The BSME degree will be awarded only from the Statesboro Campus of Georgia Southern University.
Last updated: 3/13/2023