Bakersfield College announced on Jan. 20 that it will be one of 15 colleges in California to offer a four-year baccalaureate degree program. Students who participate in the pilot program will earn a baccalaureate of applied science in industrial automation. BC was selected by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to offer a unique program that focused on automation.

“An important criterion to be selected was that the program could not duplicate other programs offered at the California State University level,” said Liz Rozell, the Engineering & Industrial Technology Dean of Instruction at BC.

The program will comprise of 122 units and the degree was designed to follow the CSU General Education Breadth of courses. 62 units must be completed in lower division courses. Rozell said that she is excited BC is offering this program so that students can prepare for mid-management positions within manufacturing and automation.

“With this program, we can prepare students for the workforce,” she said. “Students who received an associate degree were tracked in their field and could not be promoted to managerial positions without a BS degree.”

Rozell said that with the new program, students will be eligible for mid-management positions. The program allows students to learn technical management, industrial safety, quality assurance and other skills that will prepare them for managerial positions within the automation industry.