Civil Engineering Technology (Bachelor of Science Degree Offered)

Civil Engineering Technology is a broad field producing engineering technologists with versatile backgrounds in a number of subject areas. Southern Polytechnic State University graduates have the qualifications to enter careers in construction, structural design, surveying, transportation, hydraulics, site planning and the environmental technologies. A student may select elective courses from a variety of specialty areas including Environmental, Structural, Surveying or Transportation.

Electives in Environmental will enable a graduate to pursue a career in planning, analysis and design of systems to correct or control the pollution of air, land or water. Many career opportunities exist with municipalities, industry, consulting firms and governmental agencies.

Graduates with Structural electives are prepared for positions involving the design, plan preparation, construction, and inspection of modern buildings and bridges. In their coursework, students analyze and design structural members of steel, reinforced concrete and other engineering materials.

Graduates interested in Surveying can choose from electives in boundary, topographic, geodetic, route, and construction surveying. In laboratories for these courses, students utilize state-of-the-art surveying equipment (including theodolites, total stations, GPS units, and field-to-plot systems) in developing maps, designing and laying out construction projects and in planning land development for residential and commercial enterprises.

Electives in Transportation provide a graduate with the knowledge and understanding to perform design and plan maintenance of all types of transportation facilities including streets, highways, mass transit systems, railroads, airfields, ports, harbors and pipelines.

Non-Degree Surveying Students
The Civil Engineering Technology department offers coursework which is accepted by the Georgia Board of Registration for Engineers and Land Surveyors in satisfying the 14 semester credit hour educational requirement for surveying licensure. The required courses include a minimum of 10 semester credit hours of surveying and 4 semester credit hours of Hydrology. Since the courses are all college credit work, students wishing to take only the surveying courses must

1. meet the general admission requirements for the university
2. obtain credit for all prerequisite courses by
a. completing the courses at Southern Polytechnic State University, or
b. transferring the courses from another college, or
c. obtaining credit by examination for the courses.
Professional Registration
Professional Engineer: In Georgia and approximately 35 other states in the U.S., the BS-CET degree along with the appropriate number of years of experience, and the passage of two 8-hour examinations (FE and PE), qualifies one to become a licensed Professional Engineer (PE). CET students are strongly urged to take one or more of the following courses, in addition to their regular requirements:
ECET 3000 Electrical Principles
MATH 2306 Ordinary Differential Equations
MET 3401 Thermodynamics I
Licensed Surveyor: CET majors whose curriculum contains at least 6 elective hours of surveying coursework meet the educational qualification to become licensed as a Professional Land Surveyor (PLS) in Georgia. In addition, they must obtain 4 years of acceptable experience and pass the FLS and PLS examinations.
 
 
First Year
 
First Semester
Hours Per Week
Class Lab Credit Hours
CET 1001 Orientation to CET Profession 1 0 1
CET 1002 Orientation to CET Computer Practices 0 2 1
CET 2160 Civil Graphics and Computer Aided Drafting 2 6 4
CS 1113 BASIC Programming 2 2 3
  or
CS 2123 C Programming
  or
CS 2143 FORTRAN Programming
ENGL 1101 English Composition I 3 0 3
MATH 1113 Precalculus 4 0 4
Total 12 10 16
 
 
Second Semester
 
Area D Lab Science* 3 3 4
ENGL 1102 English Composition II 3 0 3
MATH 2253 Calculus I 4 0 4
STS  2400 Science, Technology, and Society 2 0 2
SURV 2221 Surveying I 3 3 4
Total 15 6 17
 
 
Second Year
 
First Semester
Hours Per Week
  Class Lab Credit Hours
Area E   Group 1 3 0 3
CET 2214 Engineering Mechanics - Statics 3 0 3
ENGL 2010 Technical Writing 3 0 3
MATH 2254 Calculus II 4 0 4
PHYS 2211K Principles of Physics I** 3 3 4
Total 16 3 17
 
 
Second Semester
 
Area C Group 1 3 0 3
Area D Lab Science* 3 3 4
CET 2215 Engineering Mechanics - Dynamics 2 0 2
CET 2219 Strength of Materials 3 3 4
SPCH 2400 Public Speaking 2 0 2
Total 13 6 15

*Students are advised to take Chemistry I, Physics I, and either Chemistry II or Physics II as partial fulfillment of Area D and F requirements.

**Either trigonometry based PHYS 1111K (Introductory Physics I) or calculus based PHYS 2211K (Principles of Physics I) is accepted in the CET curriculum.
NOTES: CET students are required to earn a grade of "C" or better in all CET courses and courses used as CET electives. Students are required to earn a GPA of 2.0 or better in all CET courses.

For more information about Area C, D, and E courses, see the "Core Curriculum" section under "Admission Information."

 
 
Third Year
 
First Semester
Hours Per Week
Class Lab Credit Hours
CET 3302 Construction Materials 3 3 4
CET 3316 Structural Analysis 4 0 4
CET 3321 Transportation Systems 3 3 4
CET 3343 Basic Fluid Mechanics 3 3 4
CET Elective* 1
Total 17
 
 
Second Semester
 
Area E Group 2 3 0 3
CET 3301 Soil Mechanics and Foundations 3 3 4
CET 3344 Fundamentals of Environmental
Engineering Technology 3 3 4
CET 3371 Structural Steel Design I 3 0 3
or
CET 3381 Reinforced Concrete Design I
CET Elective* 3
Total 17
 
 
Fourth Year
 
First Semester
Hours Per Week
Class Lab Credit Hours
Area E Group 3 3 0 3
Area E Group 4 3 0 3
CET 3324 Project Cost Analysis 4 0 4
CET 4444 Applied Hydrology 3 3 4
Free Elective 2
Total 16
 
 
Second Semester
 
Area C Group 2 3
CET 4480 Senior Project 1 9 4
CET Elective* 8
Total 15
Degree Program Total 130

*CET Electives are any non-required 3000 or 4000 level CET/SURV courses. Up to 6 hours of SURV 3XXX and 4XXX courses may be used for CET electives

NOTE: CET students are required to earn a grade of "C" or better in all CET courses and courses used as CET electives. Students are required to earn a GPA of 2.0 or better in all CET courses.