(147f) Emphasizing the Biological Side: Graduate Certificates and Secondary Majors

In this day when biological science plays an increasing role in science, engineering, and every day life, the question of how to incorporate interdisciplinary topics in the usual university environment becomes important. Two approaches taken at Kansas State University to address this need, the graduate certificate and the secondary major, will be described. A graduate certificate in biobased products and biofuels has been initiated to recognize and encourage the interdisciplinary nature of this rapidly evolving field. More and more undergraduate students have an interest in biological topics, and applications are appearing in nearly every engineering discipline. In the College of Engineering, the secondary major has been adopted as one alternative to meeting the needs of students while allowing them to pursue the major of their choice.