Unmanned Aircraft Technology

This Associate of Science degree in Unmanned Aircraft Technology is designed to prepare students to enter the workplace with new skills to enhance their current positions and create new opportunities in the field of Unmanned Aircraft Technology. The required and elective courses provide students the ability to apply skills through hands-on experience working directly in both public and private sector organizations. Students demonstrate the skills necessary to manage and plan flight operations, collect data, and process imagery for analysis. Students also have the opportunity to develop skills that they can apply in multiple applications including agriculture, natural and cultural resources management, emergency response, aerial videography, and photography. Students will prepare for and complete practice exams for the FAA Part 107 exam. Potential careers for students upon completing the certificate are UAS Remote Pilot, UAS Maintenance Technician, UAS Avionics Technician, Aerial Videographer, and Image Analyst Technician.

Course	Course	2019	2019	2020	2020
Course Department Number	Course Title	Annual Sections	Annual Enrollment Totals	Annual Sections	Annual Enrollment Totals
Required Courses
AVIA 30 A	Pilot Ground School	1	21	1	28
AVIA 30 B	Introduction to Unmanned Aircraft Systems	1	18	1	19
AVIA 30C	UAS Image Analysis and Visualization	1	10	1	17
AVIA 30D	UAS Flight Operations and Flight Planning	1	11	1	9
GIST 16A	Introduction to Geospatial Technology	2	44	1	14
GIST 16G	Introduction to Remote Sensing	1	13	1	20
PMGT 20A	Employment Prep	1	17	1	13
PMGT 20B	Internship	1	17	1	13
Elective Courses
AVIA 30 E	Drone Videography and Photography	New	New	New	New
ARTS-062A	Basic Photography	1	114	1	107
BIOL 012	Introduction to Ecology and Wildlife	1	17	1	10
BUSN 015	The Entrepreneurial Mindset	2	44	2	49
DIGM 022A	Digital Video 1	1	23	1	35
ENGR 010	Introduction to Engineering	1	76	1	87
GIST 016C	Spatial Analysis for GIS	1	10	0	0
PMGT 026	Regenerative Agriculture for Parks	New	New	New	New
PSCI 020	Weather and Climate	1	29	1	49

Projected Completions:: 10                                                    15 Students completed and passed the FAA Part 107 Exam.

This Associate of Science degree in Unmanned Aircraft Technology is designed to prepare students to enter the workplace with new skills to enhance their current positions and create new opportunities in the field of Unmanned Aircraft Technology. The required and elective courses provide students the ability to apply skills through hands-on experience working directly in both public and private sector organizations. Students demonstrate the skills necessary to manage and plan flight operations, collect data, and process imagery for analysis. Students also have the opportunity to develop skills that they can apply in multiple applications including agriculture, natural and cultural resources management, emergency response, aerial videography, and photography. Students will prepare for and complete practice exams for the FAA Part 107 exam.

Recommended Sequence: (Required Courses)

AVIA 30A,30B, GIST-16G; Year 1, Fall

AVIA 30C,30D, GIST-16A; Year 2, Spring

AVIA 30E, Year 1, Winter

PMGT 20A, PMGT 20B Year 2 Spring

Electives: Choose any three of the following:

ARTS 062A, BIOL 012, BUSN 015, DIGM 022A,

ENGR 010, GIST 016C, PMGT 026, PSCI 020

Required Major Total 30-33 units

Completion of Local AA Requirements 39 units

Possible Double Counting 16 units

TOTAL UNITS 60

Required Courses	Course Number	Units	Term
	AVIA-30A Pilot Ground School	3	Year 1, Fall
	AVIA-30B Introduction to Unmanned Aircraft Systems	3	Year 1, Fall
	GIST 16 G Introduction to Remote Sensing	3	Year 1, Fall
	AVIA-30C UAS Image Analysis and Visualization	3	Year 1, Spring
	AVIA-30D UAS Flight Operations and Flight Planning	3	Year 1, Spring
	GIST 16A Introduction to Geospatial Technology	3	Year 1, Spring
	PMGT 20A Employment Prep	1	Year 2, Spring
	PMGT 20B Internship	2	Year 2, Spring
Elective Courses	Course Number	Units	Term
Choose any three of these  elective classes	AVIA-30E Drone Videography and Photography	3	Year 1, Winter
	ARTS-062A Basic Photography	3	Year 2, Fall
	BIOL 012 Introduction to Ecology and Wildlife	4	Year 2, Fall
	BUSN 015 The Entrepreneurial Mindset	3	Year 2, Fall
	DIGM 022A Digital Video 1	4	Year 2, Fall
	ENGR 010 Introduction to Engineering	4	Year 2, Spring
	GIST 016C Spatial Analysis for GIS	3	Year 2, Spring
	PMGT 026 Regenerative Agriculture for Parks	3	Year 2, Spring
	PSCI 020 Weather and Climate	3	Year 2, Spring

This Associates Degree Proposal meets many of the West Valley College ILO's to include: I. Critical Thinking and Information Literacy; II. Quantitative and Qualitative Reasoning; IV Technological Competency; V. Personal Responsibility; VI. Social Responsibility; VII. Global Awareness and Diversity and VIII. Creative Problem Solving. This new program supports the continued growth of the industry. There are currently no transfer partners for UAS Technology at any local CSU and UC System Schools. There are upper-division courses and graduate certificates at a few schools like UC-Santa Cruz, UC-Merced, UC-Davis, and CSU-Channel Islands. We do not currently have any transfer agreements for this type of program at this time.

West Valley College UAS Technology Program is the only FAA-approved UAS-College Training Initiative. There are also no UAS Technology Certificate and Associates Degree Programs in the San Francisco Bay Area in the community college system. This Associates Degree Program was presented to Fred Sconberg | Regional Director of Employer Engagement Agriculture, Water & Environmental Technologies California Community Colleges, Bay Area. He expressed support for our program.