Life-Long Learning Opportunities
The Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering recognizes the growing need for advanced professional education for engineers who have earned degrees but wish to enhance the technical and business skills necessary to compete in today’s rapidly advancing industry. We offer a wide range of opportunities to complete course work through programs that best suit the needs of practicing engineers.
Online Degree Programs
This department was among the University’s leaders in developing ways to deliver fully accredited courses online so that students can earn graduate credit any time, any where in the world. The program began offering the Master of Engineering degree online in 1999, and in 2003 it began offering the classroom portion of both the Master of Science and the Doctor of Philosophy online.
The department supports a team of distance learning specialists dedicated to ensuring that the learning experience for each student is optimal. These specialists serve as support staff to ensure that each distance student receives quick assistance with issues ranging from course registration to access to libraries to using the course delivery software or other tools specified by the faculty.
In addition, the distance learning team supports faculty in developing and organizing course materials for Web instruction, providing expertise in teaching theory and technology as well as managing the physical and logistical operations of the courses. This frees faculty to focus on subject matter and to continue research rather than to spend inordinate amounts of time in online course management.
Because a growing body of our courses are offered online, captures of lectures, course materials, and other learning tools are available to students in College Station who are enrolled simultaneously in the distance courses. The simultaneous enrollment also allows students to share experiences across academic and professional boundaries and encourages robust discussion among students at a distance and in College Station. More Info...
Online Continuing Education
Our online degree program has generated abundant course materials that can be made available as continuing education courses with the same advantages of any time/any where study as the courses in the degree program. These courses have the huge advantage over traditional short courses of allowing students to view lectures, study materials, and practice techniques over a much longer time period than most short courses allow. This additional time permits the student to grasp concepts and learn new techniques much more thoroughly than in a hurried short course that delivers a great deal of information in a short time. More Info...
Partnership in NExT
The Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering is one of three university partners and an industry technology leader operating NExT, the Network of Excellence in Training. NExT is dedicated to providing excellent training opportunities to petroleum industry professionals worldwide. The partnership of Texas A&M U., Oklahoma State U., Heriot-Watt U., and Schlumberger provides a “virtual” faculty of practicing experts from industry and academia who conduct more than 100 courses through in-house seminars at industry locations, interactive multimedia eLearning courses, and open enrollment courses at central facilities. NExT professionals can provide independent skills assessment and recommended learning plans for individuals or establish rounded training programs for organizations. More Info...