Bachelor of Arts, Major in Biological Sciences

at San Jose State University USA

The Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET (Accrediatation Board for Engineering and Technology),

Within a few years of graduation, our ME graduates are expected to have:

• Applied engineering knowledge and skills to make positive impact on society through employment in industry, advanced study, entrepreneurship, and/or public service;
• Communicated effectively and performed professionally in both individual and multi-disciplinary team-based project environment;
• Engaged in and continue to engage in lifelong self-directed learning, including gathering and evaluating information independently, to maintain and enhance their professional skills;
• Determined and responded to ethical implications on issues such as public safety and intellectual property protection, and also weighed global and societal impacts of engineering solutions to contemporary problems.

Student Learning Outcomes

By the time they graduate, our students are expected to have acquired the following:

• An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
• An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
• An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
• An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
• An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
• An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
• An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

If you have a drive for innovation and the passion to create a new business or add value to an existing business, the Concentration in Entrepreneurship is an excellent choice for you. With an entrepreneurship degree from San José State University, you will have the fundamental skills and analytical tools across different business functions that are necessary to start a new business. You will also gain a global perspective of entrepreneurship and an insight into how to cope with change in a rapidly evolving environment due to global competition, new technology, and changing customer requirements.

This degree program is recommended for students who wish to pursue a career in statistics. This program also prepares a student for graduate study in probability and statistics.

The concentration in statistics is appropriate for students pursuing a career involving the collection and analysis of numerical data, the use of statistical techniques to predict population growth or economic conditions, the use of statistics to analyze medical, environmental, legal and social problems, or to help business managers make decisions and carry out quality control. The statistics concentration also provides a solid foundation for students who plan to become actuaries.

Behavioral science majors develop an interdisciplinary perspective on human behavior and an understanding of the psychological, social and cultural dimensions to being human in a complex society. Offered cooperatively by the Departments of Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology, the Behavioral Science Program is housed in the Department of Anthropology, which oversees academic advising. The program prepares graduates for a variety of jobs that require working with social science data and with people. Many of our alumni have pursued careers in human resources, social work, counseling, sales and marketing, and law enforcement. By earning a degree in behavioral science, you'll get the best of three worlds!

Students in the BFA program will have accomplished these objectives and will have produced a portfolio of work that will enable them to apply to graduate schools. The required BFA Seminar gives students an opportunity to consider contemporary and historical issues and allows them to evaluate their work and the work of others within a broader context. BFA students are required to complete a senior project that reflects a personal direction. They exhibit the resulting body of work that is then reviewed by a committee of faculty members.

The overall objectives of the Pictorial Art Area are as follows: Visual sensitivity in the pictorial art is developed in a number of ways. In Beginning Drawing students learn to translate the perceived world into two-dimensional constructs such as line and tone. While formal elements of composition are specifically addressed in 2-D Concepts, they remain an integral part of all pictorial courses. As students progress through more advanced courses, they engage in more sophisticated levels of visual thinking. This will be reflected in their work in the utilization of more complex formal means, both representational and abstract, and to express content. In critique sessions, students are encouraged to articulate visual ideas.

In Pictorial Art, students learn to conceptualize their ideas and execute them. This is true on every level from introductory courses to the most advanced. In some courses, such as Expressive Drawing, the emphasis is on the discovery of personal content through abstraction of the observed world or through the development of non-representational vocabulary. In other courses, such as Representational Drawing and Life Drawing, the emphasis is on perception and learning more traditional methods of rendering and depiction. In more advanced courses students are given the opportunity to choose the stylistic means of expression which best gives form to their visual ideas.

Students in Pictorial Art area are exposed to a wide variety of techniques and technical processes. This ranges from the simple and straight-forward use of pencil and charcoal in drawing through the slightly more complex techniques of watercolor, acrylic and oil painting to the more involved processes of hand-drawn and photo-generated serigraphy, as well as the chemical processes of lithography and intaglio printing. By the time they graduate students will be proficient in several of these areas. The Art History requirements for the major give the students a broad understanding of the major movements of the past and present in both the Western and non-Western worlds. In addition, slide lectures and books presented in the classroom put course work into a historical and cultural context.

The M.A. in Applied Anthropology is designed to help students develop skills in applying or using anthropological knowledge which can be used across a wide range of careers. Specifically, its mission is to enable students to build on their knowledge of cultural anthropology, physical anthropology and archaeology to address real world problems and issues. The program seeks to provide a structure through which students can develop as practitioners by working closely with faculty on projects that are often done in collaboration with regional organizations. Graduates of our program have secured positions in public, private, and non-profit organizations as researchers, designers, administrators, and program developers. The M.A. program is built around three broad sets of research skills: (1) ethnographic methods for understanding how social systems, including organizations and communities, function in the regional environment; (2) assessment and evaluation skills, especially those based on qualitative methods that complement quantitative methods; and (3) the planning and design of programs, organizations, services, and artifacts.

Students graduating from this program should:

• Understand a range of anthropological research methods and be able to conduct research relevant to problem solving in various settings and for different clients or partners
• Know basic models of applying anthropology in different settings and have the skills to be able to function as practitioners in several
• Be knowledgeable about (a) the discipline of anthropology in general and how it contributes to understanding and improving contemporary society; and (b) a particular field of anthropology in greater depth
• Be able to function effectively in at least one content area or domain of application
• Understand personal, political, and ethical issues inherent in research and application
• Develop professionally as practitioners with skills in contracting, project management, and budgeting, as well as the ability to communicate about project goals and findings and the discipline of anthropology to diverse audiences
• To be knowledgeable about the region as a social and cultural system with complex state, national, and global interconnections

The Professional Science Master of Biotechnology Program (MBT) is a formal 2-year degree program that integrates advanced, hands-on training in laboratory-based biotechnologies with MBA-level business courses from the College of Business. Through elective choices, students supplement the core program with additional hands-on science or MBA courses to support their career goals. MBT program graduates are highly trained individuals who have had direct exposure to the biotechnology corporate world and are ready to make immediate contributions to biotechnology companies. Graduates have been hired for research, product development, marketing, regulatory affairs, clinical affairs, project management, quality control, and other types of positions.

This degree is recommended for students who wish to work in the research and development area of industry. This program also prepares a student for graduate study in applied mathematics, numerical analysis, or operations research. The concentration in applied and computational mathematics provides a solid foundation in classical applied mathematics as well as computational mathematics, which could be informally described as "how to employ mathematics on computers wisely." A graduate could seek direct employment assisting a group of scientists with the formulation and solution of problems. There is a great need in local and national technical industries for people with sufficiently strong mathematical knowledge to participate on such teams. For example, modern techniques for solving partial differential equations are very sophisticated; the best method in a given situation depends on the properties of the model. Once a numerical approximation has been formulated, the techniques to solve that, and the commercial software available to do it, again require informed decisions.

Over the past 30 years, our nationally recognized program has earned a well-deserved reputation as one of the most comprehensive photography programs in the West. Located within the School of Art & Design, the Photography Program at San José State University is the largest in the California State University system and one of the largest in the Western United States. Our curriculum engages students in a diverse range of contemporary practices in the medium, from traditional silver-based photography and historic alternative photo processes, to innovative approaches to digital and video imaging.

In addition to our emphasis in photography as a fine art, our program also includes a strong commercial photography component, a feature that makes our undergraduate program unique. Covering a full spectrum of technical, aesthetic, conceptual, and theoretical issues, one of our primary objectives is to enhance the student's ability to conceptualize an idea and gain the ability to visually articulate concepts.

Throughout its 150-year history, photography has served as a powerful means of self-expression, a catalyst for cultural change and a medium for social commentary. We encourage students to produce thoughtful artwork that deals with meaningful issues. We also recognize the increasing interdisciplinary nature of photography, and encourage interested students to explore related media including installation, film and video, and electronic media.

Established over thirty years ago, the main objective of the Industrial Design Program is twofold: first, for students to understand the evolving needs of humanity; and second, for students to address those needs by giving form to solutions. Graduates will emerge from the program prepared to design sustainable solutions to world problems. They will be trained in designing for and from all perspectives and to take into account the diversity of human existence. In our program, students will get to put their concepts into practice from the convenience of our Seid Lab, funded by an alumni and holding the most cutting edge fabrication equipment, available strictly to Industrial Design students.

Our distinguished faculty recognizes that, to become impactful industrial designers, students must have a firm comprehension of all things related to the human experience. As such, the program takes full advantage of the university setting by collaborating with SJSU’s Anthropology, Business, and Engineering programs. Additionally, because of our ideal location at the center of Silicon Valley, guest speakers from local tech companies and design studios are often invited to give talks, as well as critique student work.

Industrial design is not just the design of objects that facilitate everyday living; it’s also the design around experiences and services. With the world in constant flux, we aspire to equip future industrial designers with essential tools—a balance of theory, skill, and practice—necessary to become global citizens and effect change throughout the world.