New drone course

NEWS

HIGH-FLYING EXPERIENCE NEW COURSE TEACHES PRACTICAL AIRMANSHIP

A new course in drone operation is already paying dividends for Troy University students. The Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) minor offered by the Geospatial Informatics Department completed its first-ever, on-campus class, and one of its students has earned her Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Remote Pilot Certification. The course, Remote Pilot Familiarization, gives students the practical airmanship knowledge to successfully pass the FAA’s Part 107 Remote Pilot examination as well as practical experience in quadcopter and fixed-wing drone operations. The class was originally conceived as a weekly three-hour laboratory on the Troy Campus. However, the COVID-19 The Troy University Board of Trustees voted in May to freeze undergraduate and graduate tuition for the 2020 academic year, marking the second straight year students will not see a change in tuition. “Many of our students and their families face economic uncertainty, therefore we believe this is a prudent decision,” said Chancellor Jack Hawkins, Jr. “Further, with student debt in America approaching $1.7 trillion, it is important for us to make the university experience affordable for the students we serve.” The current undergraduate tuition of $325 per credit hour in class and $338 per credit hour online and the general pandemic threatened to change that, leading to classes later in the semester to be conducted virtually. That didn’t keep computer science senior Riley Bates from pressing on, passing the FAA exam during spring break and being accepted to do research in UAV cybersecurity during the summer at EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University. Bates, who graduated following the spring semester, ranked the class as her favorite course. “Remote Pilot Familiarization gave me the knowledge and resources to be able to accomplish these things,” she said. “This class is by far my favorite and most practical of any college course I have taken.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT TROY.EDU/GEOSPATIAL.

University fee of $42 per credit hour will remain the same for in-state students in the 2020 academic year. Tuition for out-ofstate students and TROY Online students will also remain the same. Graduate tuition rates will remain at $425 in class and $494 online. Trustees did approve a recommendation to increase tuition for doctoral-level degrees to $550 in class and online. Dr. Hawkins cited good stewardship, cost savings in expenses and sound financial management, in addition to slightly higher state support, as reasons for being able to hold the line on tuition costs.