The University of North Alabama has launched three Associate's degrees that will soon enroll students for classes that begin Fall 2023.

UNA Launches Three Associate’s Degrees, Enhancing Opportunities at Alabama’s Workforce Development University

Mar. 06, 2023



Michelle R. Eubanks , UNA, at meubanks@una.edu, 256.765.4392

FLORENCE, AL – The University of North Alabama has launched three Associate’s degrees as part of its ongoing designation as Alabama’s Workforce Development University. The programs in Mechatronics, Culinary, and Hospitality and Events Management will soon enroll students for classes that begin in Fall 2023. 

“As Alabama’s Workforce Development University, UNA is pleased to collaborate with our industry partners to launch these three workforce-focused Associate’s degrees that lead directly to jobs here in the Shoals region,” said Dr. Ross Alexander, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs.  

The timing is strategic based on ongoing and emerging needs from burgeoning industries throughout the region, he said. 

The programs selected for these first Associate’s degrees are also in areas where UNA faculty have expertise, according to Dr. Sara Lynn Baird, Dean of the College of Arts, Science, and Engineering. 

“We worked closely with industry and business partners to develop curricula that would prepare students for specific jobs and help them develop skills related to the personnel needs of these partners,” she said. “CASE is home to the Culinary, Hospitality, and Engineering Technology programs which informed the curricular development for these new Associate’s degrees.” 

Applications are available online at this link, and students are taking advantage of this pathway to their future and in-demand careers, said Julie Taylor, the Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management. 

“UNA’s new Associate’s degree programs in Mechatronics, Culinary, and Hospitality Management will provide even more opportunities for workforce development in our region and beyond,” she said. “With these programs, students will be able to learn the skills they need in order to pursue these exciting and in-demand career paths.”

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: una.edu and una.edu/unaworks/.