Bachelor of General Studies

at Arkansas State University USA

Creative Media Production is designed to nurture students with a passion for storytelling and communicating, and a talent for expressing themselves. Through experiential learning, students learn how to create and distribute content across multiple media platforms. This provides a solid foundation on which to build their careers in a variety of rewarding professions.

Degree Emphasis
You can emphasize your studies in one of these areas:

• Corporate Media (also Online) - Students create their own path of content creation for all platforms from broadcasting, filmmaking and web and social media content. The corporate media emphasis prepares students for the dynamic field of communication where message creation and distribution is learned by combining hands-on media production experiences with a solid theoretical foundation. Students may pursue a variety of production opportunities from creating content for broadcasting, corporate clients and organizations to writing, and producing their own films and video content.
• Graphic Communication - Think of all the products you use every day. Look at how they are designed, marketed, printed, packaged, sold and delivered. As a student in Graphic Communications, you will develop both the technical and creative abilities to become a successful professional in a technology-driven and dynamic multi-billion-dollar industry. Graphic Communications majors learn the skills necessary for many different career focuses, including graphic design, distribution, technology, printing, packaging, marketing and web design/development. Our unique concept of hands-on learning will prepare you for a variety of professions within the realm of graphic communications.
• Sports Media -  If you are passionate about sports and want to describe the stories around them then the Sports Media emphasis is for you. You can be on the sidelines near all the action as a camera operator, in the booth describing it live to an audience, or in the control room calling the shots as the director.Sports Media students are involved in studio and remote productions for radio, television, and online presentation. They are also interviewing the athletes and coaches for newscasts. Whether you desire to have your own online channel, work at a local broadcast station, or make it to a national network, you will be exposed to the latest methods and technologies demanded by today’s sports media

The Bachelor of Arts degree in World Languages and Cultures with emphasis in French and Spanish is recommended for students who seek to employ French or Spanish as a vehicle of communication in their future profession and are aspiring careers in any area which requires linguistic and cultural communication skills in these languages.

The BA in World Languages and Cultures prepares you for a wide variety of employment opportunities as advanced level communication skills in French and Spanish complemented with international experience and global citizen skills are of essence in every career field in the 21st century.

The M.S.E. degree in Social Science is rooted in a solid core of History and Social Science, along with 9 credit hours in Education.

M.S.E. graduates find rewarding careers in teaching and administration in public and private secondary schools.

Curriculum

• Curriculum and degree requirements can be found in the most current Graduate Bulletin.

The Masters of Science degree in Computer Science is designed to strengthen the background of the student in advanced computing concepts involving computational problem solving and complex programming environments. The program covers topics in algorithms, computation theory, and advanced programming systems.  Students are expected to be able to construct complex software solutions for a variety of problems and systems.  Electives allow the student to focus studies in several areas, including parallel and distributed systems and programming, bioinformatics, and graphics.

The Bachelor of Science in Health Studies degree serves a three-fold purpose for students that are:

• Planning to seek employment in a health or health related area upon graduation;
• Desiring a bachelor’s degree following an associate’s degree in health disciplines and
• Planning a health career that requires a post-baccalaureate plan of study.

This degree does not lead to a professional credential or state licensure. It does prepare students for roles in community health, support services, health care navigation, claims services, medical sales and patient services. Online certification is available in some areas such as compliance officer, health advocate and coding specialist.

Prerequisites

• Professional Track - The Professional Track requires students to have an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in an allied health related field (e.g., Physical Therapist Assistant, Clinical Laboratory, Nursing).
• Non-Professional Track - The Non-Professional Track does not require students to hold an AAS degree

The accounting major prepares students for rewarding careers as industrial accountants, cost analysts, controllers, tax accountants, members of financial regulatory teams such as the IRS or banking auditors, independent auditors in CPA firms, and internal auditors. A-State accounting graduates work for manufacturing firms, in government agencies, in banking, in not-for-profit entities, and in public accounting.

The multidisciplinary curriculum for this degree was carefully designed to meet market-driven, industry-centric needs. Delivered by faculty who are committed to teaching excellence and innovation, our Hospitality & Event Tourism Management (HETM) degree yields transferable skills, extending career possibilities.

Students in this program:

• Employ creativity, research, and critical thinking to solve problems, looking analytically and ethically at the triple bottom line.
• Demonstrate effective culturally sensitive communication skills using facts to support claims, and consideration of multiple stakeholders.
• Participate in a service-learning project as members of a team, assisting a community-based organization.

Arkansas State University offers the Bachelor of General Studies degree through Undergraduate Studies. The program is designed to give students the opportunity to develop a personalized program of study to meet their professional, academic, and personal aspirations. Through a multidisciplinary curriculum, the program attempts to provide a unique, rigorous, and flexible learning pathway for that segment of student population with specific educational and career interests that would not otherwise be met by a traditional degree track or major.

By tailoring the major, students develop a plan of study that provides curricular opportunities to explore multiple disciplines (department and/or college) and increase skills in critical analysis, problem solving, and professional competencies. The Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) program equips students with the aptitude needed to be successful in an array of professional settings and provides an essential academic undergraduate foundation for those seeking to pursue a graduate- level degree for career advancement.

A major in political science offers valuable, comprehensive knowledge of American government and global politics, helping to prepare students to analyze complex political problems and recognize potential solutions in both the public and private sector. Students are able to gain an understanding of political structure, theory, and methodology. They can also develop their research skills and sense of intellectual property using libraries, archives, and online sources. The program provides an opportunity for students to develop their writing skills and learn the responsibility for clearly presenting and interpreting political issues using the language of the discipline. A major in political science helps students to analyze complex political problems and recognize potential solutions in both the public and private sectors.

Data science and data analytics applications exist in numerous industries and government agencies.  This diversity of opportunity is reflected in the interdisciplinary nature of the Data Science and Data Analytics (DSDA) Program which involves six colleges; Agriculture, Education and Behavioral Science, Engineering and Computer Science, Liberal Arts and Communication, Nursing and Health Professions, and Sciences and Mathematics.   The DSDA Program builds out from the general education curriculum to a program core of 37 hours and two specific tracks from which students can choose.  The program core is be required of all students in the program and covers content in Statistics, programming, visualization, data governance and ethics. The two tracks - Data Science and Data Analytics – provide further depth beyond the program core. Within each track, students will be required to complete courses within their particular area of interest or “domain”.  Domains could include social sciences, healthcare, geospatial technologies, engineering, computer science, or bioinformatics to name a few.

The outcomes of the BS program are:

• Identify societal and ethical impacts as well as the responsibility that come with access to data.
• Critically assess and remediate issues with data organization and data quality.
• Design and implement a solution to a problem in the realm of data science/data analytics through problem identification, problem solving, decision making, visualization, data analysis and reporting.