For some Ohio University students, finding the right degree is difficult. However, when students can’t find a program that is just right, they turn to the bachelor of specialized studies program offered by University College.
The BSS program allows undergraduates to design their own degrees focusing on any area of concentration.
About 200-250 students graduate with a BSS degree each year and about 900 are currently enrolled in the program on the Athens campus, said Tanya Barnett, director of external relations and initiatives for University College.
“The BSS program gives students freedom to study a variety of different topics and tie different disciplines together,” Barnett said.
Some students choose to combine elements of degrees already offered at OU, while other students create their own.
Barnett said the program has proven to be successful for former students including Neal Denton, senior vice president of YMCA in the U.S., Anisa Husain, editorial producer for CNN, and Chris Chmiel, Athens County commissioner.
“We have very interesting alums; they work in all different kinds of fields,” Barnett said. “It’s a very fun variety of people.”
Chmiel, who graduated in 1992 with a BSS degree in holistic transitions to sustainability and was awarded the Outstanding Alumni Award by University College in 2011, first became interested in the program after enrolling in a botany class and a dance class; he wanted to combine both elements.
“I loved it. The program allowed me to take control of my education,” Chmiel said.
Though the majority of majors have strict course requirements, the BSS program allows students to work around these restraints to take the classes that they are interested in, Barnett said.
Ellyn Loss, a freshman currently in the BSS program, created her own degree this year, combining public relations, business, music and media classes. Though it doesn’t have an official name yet, she is thinking about calling it “Media Relations and Music Business.”
Loss said her dream after graduation is to work at a record label on the West Coast. She told her adviser, Barnett, who quickly persuaded her to try the BSS program.
“I knew exactly what I wanted to do but I didn’t know what path to take to get me there,” she said.
Loss said she enjoys the flexibility and the creative aspects of the program.
“I get a wonderful sense of empowerment and accomplishment with this degree because I am the one in charge of building it from the ground up,” Loss said.
To learn more about the BSS program, students can stop by 140 Chubb Hall to sign up for a specialized degree information session or they can view the specialized degree information session schedule, student profiles and degree news on University College’s website.
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