{"id":25489,"date":"2018-02-20T10:00:43","date_gmt":"2018-02-20T16:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=25489"},"modified":"2018-02-20T00:35:34","modified_gmt":"2018-02-20T06:35:34","slug":"austin-peay-state-university-working-to-offer-aviation-science-degree-next-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2018\/02\/20\/austin-peay-state-university-working-to-offer-aviation-science-degree-next-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Peay State University working to offer Aviation Science Degree next Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – In Clarksville, it\u2019s not unusual to see military aircraft flying over town, but next year, a new bachelor\u2019s degree program at Austin Peay State University will put a few civilian helicopters into the local sky.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the University is in the final approval stages of a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Science, with a concentration in rotor wing (helicopters), beginning next fall. The program will be the first rotor-wing flight school attached to a bachelor\u2019s degree in the state.<\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/a>

Austin Peay State University looks to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Science.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

In November, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission approved the new degree, but the program still needs the endorsement of the Federal Aviation Administration and approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the University is moving forward with preparations to launch the degree program as soon as it is approved, thanks to a recent $175,000 Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) grant. The TDOT Aeronautics Economic Development Fund is meant to \u201cimpact job creation and investment opportunities in Tennessee\u2019s aviation industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January, the agency awarded six grants\u2014five to airport authorities across the state, and one to APSU.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were the only institution of higher learning to get that grant, and the money will be used to buy our first helicopter simulator,\u201d Dr. Karen Meisch, interim dean of the APSU College of STEM, said.<\/p>\n

In the coming months, the University will hire a program director and chief helicopter pilot, in addition to acquiring three helicopters\u2014two Guimbal Cabri G2s and a Robinson R44. The program will be housed at the Austin Peay Center at Fort Campbell, with flight training taking place at the Clarksville Regional Airport, also known as Outlaw Field.<\/p>\n

The bachelor\u2019s degree will help veterans, Fort Campbell pilots transitioning out of the military, and civilians pursue competitive careers with air medical service contractors, such as LifeFlight, oil and gas companies in need of offshore transportation and numerous other employers.<\/p>\n

Last summer, Vertical Magazine\u2014a helicopter industry publication\u2014reported that U.S. Customs and Border Protection was hiring helicopter pilots \u201cin a big way.\u201d According to the magazine, the federal agency has \u201capproximately 550 pilot positions,\u201d but that \u201cdoesn\u2019t take into account additional positions that may be authorized in the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graduates of the APSU program will be better prepared for these jobs because of the way the University has structured the curriculum.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you earn this degree, you earn four FAA certifications: private helicopter, commercial helicopter, flight instructor I and flight instructor II,\u201d Meisch said. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes this better than just going to a flight school. They (a flight school) would focus on earning one of those four things at a time. At Austin Peay, you earn those four certifications and a bachelor\u2019s degree. And the job market is calling more and more for that degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program also caters to pilots with years of flying experience, particularly military pilots from Fort Campbell.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlight training is calculated by the hour,\u201d Dr. Kristine Nakutis, executive director of the Austin Peay Center at Fort Campbell, said. \u201cIf students meet the standards, they may not have to pay for the additional training time. We will review prior flight experience, licensure, and skills for academic credit to reduce student cost and meet degree completion sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, contact the APSU College of STEM at 931.221.7971, meischk@apsu.edu<\/a> or nakutisk@apsu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clarksville, TN – In Clarksville, it\u2019s not unusual to see military aircraft flying over town, but next year, a new bachelor\u2019s degree program at Austin Peay State University will put a few civilian helicopters into the local sky. That\u2019s because the University is in the final approval stages of a Bachelor of Science degree in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[23,7008,31590,262,31589,21749,825,13075,16711,5617,31588,11021,30680,5854,27613,778,170,1386,31591,1547],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xGYI-6D7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25489"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25489"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25490,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25489\/revisions\/25490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}