Georgia Highlands College (GHC) and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) have entered into a new agreement, where participating students will earn dual bachelor of science (BS) degrees in in Building Information Modeling Management (BIMM) from GHC and Construction Science and Management from Georgia Tech in as little as four to five years.
This agreement helps GHC students to not only transfer into Georgia Tech, but to graduate with two degrees, boosting their future employment opportunities and responding to a much urgent need for educated workforce in the construction industry. After completing three years of study at GHC in the BIMM program, students can then transfer to Georgia Tech’s School of Building Construction to finish their dual degree program.
This dual degree is the result of close collaboration and numerous brain-storming sessions between Jason Christain, Dean for the School of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) at GHC and Ece Erdogmus, Chair of the School of Building Construction at Georgia Tech.
Christain said the Northwest Georgia and Metro Atlanta region is booming in commercial construction, and graduates of the college BIMM degree program are highly qualified to fill many of these positions as they become available.
“For only one extra year of college through this agreement, students will also be able to add more skills to their resume, making them more eligible for higher paying jobs and to expand the availability of jobs for which they would be qualified,” Christian said. “On top of this, having a degree from GHC and Georgia Tech expands their connections in the community, making them more employable.”
Christian said careers in BIMM are attractive to individuals with a wide range of interests and professional goals. For example, traditional freshmen who may like computer science, engineering, architecture, and construction tend to find BIMM a rewarding career choice as it integrates principles in a lot of these fields.
The program is also an excellent option for those seeking to grow their current careers.
“BIMM truly is a degree that leads to a job, and the return on investment is fantastic,” Christian said, adding that in the two years GHC has offered a BIMM degree nearly all graduates have received job offers. “Since the degree can be completed 100% online from GHC, an individual who is returning to school and/or working full time can still complete the program.”
The opportunities for employment grow as one completes the dual degree program.
“The School of Building Construction is tightly connected to the general contractors, design-build firms, and developers in the southeast and Georgia Tech’s campus is in the middle of heavy development activity in midtown,” Erdogmus said. “This is a fantastic place for students to finish school and connect with the industry.”
She said many juniors and seniors work with reputable companies as they continue their coursework due to abundance of internship positions in town.
“55 companies attended our school’s career fair in fall 2023, many looking for multiple interns and full time employees at once,” Erdogmus said. “Our placement rate is 100%+ with some students receiving upward of 10 job offers each.”
The additional component of the degree program to be completed at Georgia Tech is fully on campus. All three years of the bachelor’s program at GHC may be completed online.
Christian and Erdogmus are also working on a summer bridge program, where the students will be able to start their transition over the summer to earn some credits toward their degrees and acclimate to the campus life at Georgia Tech.
For more on BIMM, visit bimm.highlands.edu. Enroll today at highlands.edu
