• Course Descriptions for Civil Engineering Technology

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 16 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.

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.

*Students are advised to take Chemistry I, Physics I, and Physics II as partial fulfillment of Area D and F requirements. Either PHYS 1111K (Introductory Physics I) or 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."

*CET Electives are any non-required 3000 or 4000 level CET/SURV courses

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.