The Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) has decided to approve Olivet University’s plans to establish a new School of Architecture, Engineering and Construction, starting with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

Since architects, engineers, and construction leaders are typically educated in separate schools, bringing together these disciplines into a single Olivet School of Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (OCAEC) to collaborate is a rare opportunity for Olivet, and for the higher education world.

The Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering will be the first degree program offered by the new School.

“Olivet University has a compelling vision for creating an engineering program that will support the school’s mission in powerful ways,” according to Professor of Civil Engineering Stephen Ressler, who help write the program proposal.

The program will open up new opportunities for service in the field of engineering supporting the global church’s efforts to win the world to Jesus Christ, especially in the developing world.

Dr. Stephen Ressler, P.E. joined the Olivet team as a consultant and professor in fall 2014, followed by Mrs. Sharon Carter Matthews, AIA in January 2015. Mrs. Matthews currently is serving as Inaugural Dean and Professor of Architecture of the new School of Engineering, Architecture.

Their teamwork has produced the framework for the School, which will be supported by a growing professional advisory board.

Olivet plans to start the School by offering the Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering emphasizing construction. Degrees in various architecture fields would follow.

A search is underway for the director of the new Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering to launch the program with its first cohort of students.