April 23, 2015
SWIC students can earn SIU aviation degree
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Students at Southwestern Illinois College who have an associate degree in an aviation-related field can now earn a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in aviation management.
Students will be able to take SIU Carbondale’s aviation management courses at SWIC in Belleville through off-campus classes, possibly as early this summer. Tenured and adjunct SIU Carbondale faculty will teach the courses on weekends, and students could potentially complete a Bachelor of Science degree in aviation management in as few as 16 months, José R. Ruiz, chair of the Department of Aviation Management and Flight, said.
"The partnership with Southwestern Illinois College will extend SIU’s presence throughout Illinois, and allow SWIC students to continue their collegiate aviation education at one of the premier collegiate aviation institutions in the country with one added convenience -- students do not have to leave the familiarity of their local setting; we bring an SIU aviation education to them,” Ruiz said.
The aviation management program also offers classes in four other off-campus sites: Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, Calif.; Palomar College, San Marcos, Calif.; Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, Jacksonville, N.C., and MCAS Cherry Point, Havelock, N.C.
For more information about the off-campus aviation program, contact Samuel Pavel, assistant professor, at 618/453-7269 or spavel@aviation.siu.edu.