The U.S. Naval Academy must increase its science and engineering majors by 6 percentage points to meet the demands of the Navy, officials said Monday.
“This policy will improve the technical competencies of our officer corps and enhance our ability to meet the Navy?s future needs,” Navy spokeswoman Lt. Karen Eifert said.
The academy needs to graduate 65 percent of its officers with science, technology, engineering and math (also known as STEM) majors to meet the “importance of understanding technology in thefirst tour after leaving the academy,” Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler said during Monday?s Board of Visitors meeting at the academy.
The academy must reach the 65 percent goal with the class of 2013, which enters Annapolis in two years.
The academy is renowned for its engineering program, offering six engineering majors. But since 1997, its technical majors have dropped from 64 percent to 61 percent, averaging 59 percent in the last 10 years.
William Miller, the academy?s provost and academic dean, said there has been a shift toward majors such as political science.
To accomplish the Navy?s goal, the academy will likely have to gear its recruiting toward candidates who are seeking science and technology degrees.
“We want to be in a position where students choose technical majors rather than us forcing them to do that,” Miller said.
Fowler said about 35 more midshipmen need STEM majors to reach the Navy?s goal. Most of the 19 majors offered are related to technology or engineering.
“We?ll need a few resources,” Fowler told the board. “This should be relatively easy to achieve.”
Fowler said the academy will need to increase the number of professors specializing in technical majors, but he did not say how many would be needed.
