In election years, it’s easier to see what political scientists do: they track public opinion, advise campaigns about issues that will help them win and make predictions about what voters will support or reject. But the field of political science is broader than commentary and analysis on elections, and a BA in political science will provide you with an even wider range of possible careers.  

Political scientists study human behavior to understand why people make choices—their goals and desires and the external factors that nudge them in different directions—to understand how public opinions and political currents shift and can be shifted.  

They learn how groups and organizations function and how authority and political power operate in different structures, including different systems of government. They learn to understand these institutions from the outside or work effectively within them. And they investigate how laws and public policies are formed through political and administrative processes and sustained through enforcement and public support.  

“Political science is about trying to think systematically about interesting and important questions related to law and policy in all the places and forms where we find it,” says Brian Klunk, chair of the Department of Political Science at University of the Pacific.  

Careers for political science majors

Law and political science

Most students in Pacific’s political science program choose that major because they want to go to law school—and these students tend to go, either right away or after a gap year, he says.  

Others hope to work in the legal field in some other way. While working as a paralegal (a non-lawyer who works closely with attorneys, conducting legal research, helping with preparation for trial and dealing with correspondence and files) is probably the non-attorney job within the legal field that comes to mind most easily, there are others:  

• Legal assistant: A legal assistant has an administrative role with less responsibility than a paralegal. Key responsibilities include filing, communication with clients and managing schedules.  

• Court reporter: Court reporters transcribe court proceedings, establishing the formal record of events which can later be cited as evidence.  

• Contracts administrator: A contracts administrator is responsible for understanding the terms of contracts that a firm is involved in administering and ensuring parties’ compliance with them.  

• Discovery specialist: A discovery specialist helps gather and preserve evidence needed in legal cases, whether physical or digital.  

• Law indexer: Law indexers create indexes for sets of laws and regulations which enable lawyers to easily access these documents.  

Politics, government and public policy 

It’s no surprise that political science students often become involved in student government while in college—or that they go on to hold elected office in local, state or national government, like Pacific political science alumnus James Aiona, lieutenant governor of Hawaii from 2002-2010.  But many others work in other areas of politics and public policy, working on campaigns, within state or federal bureaucracies or for nonprofit institutions.  

“A lot of public policy is not implemented by the government itself but by grants to private organizations or companies which administer the funds,” says Klunk. Many political science alumni work at this intersection of public and private efforts.   

Entry-level jobs for political science majors in politics, government and public policy include:  

• Campaign staffer: Campaign staffers do much of the day-to-day work of campaigns, which can be a blend of administrative work, manual labor, and management depending on the role.  

• Political consultant: Political consultants provide advice to political campaigns, helping them to run successful campaigns by conducting market research, creating communications campaigns and helping to raise campaign funds. 

• Legislative assistant: Legislative assistants work for lawmakers, monitoring the progress of proposed laws, doing research to inform future laws, answering phones and communicating with constituents and helping arrange and support events.  

• Assistant speechwriter: Assistant speechwriters work on a team with other speechwriters, and in addition to drafting material for speeches, do research including fact-checking, proofread speeches and provide other assistance. 

• Foreign service officer: Foreign service officers work for the U.S. Department of State and are stationed in embassies around the world. In addition to completing an application, people interested in becoming foreign service officers must pass the Foreign Service Officer Test and Foreign Service Officer Assessment before they are considered for hiring. 

• Lobbyist: Lobbyists represent the interests of their clients to members of government to encourage the creation of laws and policies that will serve their clients well.  

• Policy advocate: Policy advocates communicate arguments in favor of specific government policies to a variety of audiences, including both policymakers and concerned citizens.  

• NGO staffer: Non-governmental organizations are usually non-profit bodies with missions that are oriented toward addressing a particular issue in society or making improvements within a locality. They can be small or large, focused on individual communities or global issues.  

Business and political science

Finally, many political science students also choose to go into business after they graduate. The skills they develop during their education—their critical thinking skills, ability to do careful analysis, experience doing research, and presentation skills—serve them well in business settings.  

Entry-level jobs for political science majors in business include:   

• Policy analyst: Policy analysts monitor local, state and federal laws and regulations to help a company ensure that it can comply with these, avoiding fines and other negative consequences. They conduct research and brief company leadership on their most important findings.  

• Market research analyst: Market research analysts conduct surveys and monitor markets in other ways to understand whether demand for a company’s products is stable, increasing or decreasing, so that the company can adapt to changing conditions and continue making a profit.  

• Business analyst: Business analysts study a company’s financial health, looking at its processes, operations, expenditures and profits to find ways that it could be more efficient, reduce waste and increase profit.  

• Financial manager: Financial managers analyze a business’s assets to find ways to increase its profitability. While it is similar to a business analyst position, this role is more narrowly focused.  

Graduate school possibilities 

Some political science students choose to go to graduate school in other areas than law.  

Professional graduate programs prepare students for specific professions, careers or industries.  

• Public policy/public administration: The programs prepare students for jobs in local, state or national government; in administrative agencies; or in non-profit or other independent non-governmental organizations.  

• International relations: International relations programs prepare students for positions working for international businesses including banks and law firms; governmental organizations including the U.S. Department of State; organizations like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund or the United Nations; or non-governmental organizations with a global reach.  

Academic programs: Political science and political theory graduate programs prepare students to teach, usually at the undergraduate level in universities or community colleges.  

Why study political science at Pacific?

It’s important for political science students to gain real-world experience during their time in college, to “have exposure to what it is people really do in the world,” says Klunk.   

Pacific recognized the importance of hands-on training for political science majors early and instituted an experiential learning requirement, which can be satisfied in several ways, including a political science or pre-law internship, participation in the university’s Washington Semester program, or conducting research. 

Internships and other forms of experiential learning give political science students a more thorough understanding of the day-to-day work of a lawyer or a legislative assistant or someone who works in policy advocacy, give them substantive experience to include on their resumes and help them learn more about the field and about their own skills and interests.  

Students also have the opportunity to join Pacific’s renowned speech and debate team, which is nearly as old as the university itself. The team competes in events across the country and hosts tournaments on the Stockton Campus.  

Political science students at Pacific can pursue a concentration in criminal justice or minors in pre-law or public affairs. Accelerated programs, which allow students to complete their undergraduate degrees in three years, are also available for students who want to pursue law or public policy at Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law.  

Students are also connected with the university’s alumni network; they are required to have informational interviews with political science alumni, who often go on to provide career help and mentorship to students. 

At Pacific, Klunk says, “students become well-informed people who are  citizens, who can look at the world of public affairs and understand it and know how to participate in it, who are aware of and informed about the world and have the skills to make sense of it and to act in it.”   

Learn more about studying political science at University of the Pacific.

We live in a world flush with electrical systems and electronics. Every day you use consumer goods like cell phones or microwaves, and every day you rely on hidden systems like GPS satellites and power grids. 

Our lives are so dependent on these goods and systems that it can be easy to take them for granted, but they don’t appear out of thin air. Electrical engineers are responsible for shaping the world around us. They worked on your car, the stoplight on the road, the systems bringing power to that stoplight and the facilities producing that electricity. 

Electrical engineers have a role in just about every industry you can imagine: telecommunications, computing, automotive, energy sector, signal processing and so on. Given that widespread need, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that jobs for electrical and electronics engineers will grow around 9% over the next decade.  

If you have strong math skills and want to be part of this network of innovators, an electrical engineering degree might be for you.  

Let’s take a broader look at the discipline and what opportunities it offers.  

Areas of focus within electrical engineering

Electric engineering includes a wide variety of subfields. Here are some major topics you can pursue within the discipline. 

• Power engineering 
  This is what most people imagine when they think of electrical engineering. Power engineers plan, design and maintain electrical power systems across residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Beyond the basics, they’re the ones who troubleshoot issues, make sure systems are in compliance with state and federal regulation and may also develop plans to increase energy efficiency.  

• Signal processing
  At its most basic, signal processing focuses on creating, transforming and analyzing information transmitted via electronic signals. The most obvious examples of this are radio and television, but signal processing technology is also essential for health care equipment, smartphones and many other consumer products. 

• Communication systems 
  This subfield focuses on the design and performance of communication systems and data networks of all kinds, which are essential for radio, TV, landline telephones and cellular phones.  

• Controls systems 
  Also known as control engineering, this subfield focuses on designing devices that manage or direct the behavior of other technologies and systems. These systems underlie basically all technologies we use every day: think of your car’s cruise control, your air conditioning or your washer and dryer.  

• Computer engineering 
  When we think of careers in computing, the most obvious option is computer science. But as important as software is, coding can’t work without an electronic device to run it. Computer engineers understand, work with and design computer hardware, architecture and network systems. 

• Microelectronics 
  The smart phone in your pocket is more powerful than the computer onboard Apollo 11’s spacecraft when it landed on the moon in 1969. Year after year, our electronics get smaller and more powerful. This is the realm of microelectronics, where engineers use special techniques to design smaller and cheaper transistors, integrated circuits and microchips.  
  
  These days, some components of those devices can measure only a few nanometers. For comparison, a strand of human DNA is just 2.5 nanometers in diameter.  

• Robotics 
  Robotics engineering sits at the nexus of electrical and mechanical engineering, and it calls upon several of the fields we’ve already discussed. Computer engineering, control systems and signal processing are just a few specializations needed in robotics. The need for robotics engineers is increasing as more industries, from car companies to hospitals, are finding uses for them. 

Electrical engineering vs. computer science 

There is considerable overlap between electrical engineering and computer science, so it can be hard to choose a path if you know you want to work with computers.  

Here’s a quick way to differentiate between the two: Electrical engineers who learn about computers mostly focus on the hardware and how those systems interact with each other and with the internet. Computer science, on the other hand, deals primarily with software, building programs or improving digital user interaction.  

For some jobs, there is a clear delineation between these skill sets. If you want to design computer hardware, for example, you will want to study electrical engineering (or consider computer engineering). On the other hand, you should probably study computer science if you’re fascinated by the possibilities of large language models or generative artificial intelligence. 

Jobs for graduates with electrical engineering degrees

Our world is dependent on electrical systems and electronics. Every sphere, from the home to the commercial space to telecommunications infrastructure, relies on some form of electrical engineering. Earning a degree will open doors for you across a wide array of industries. 

Broadcast engineer

Broadcast engineers are the people who keep TV and radio transmitting on the airwaves, bringing entertainment, sports, music or news to your devices. They’re responsible for managing, updating and troubleshooting the technologies that these stations depend on every day.  

A broadcast engineer in TV news, for example, will handle the hardware that receives media from the field — maybe a journalist’s report or live feed, footage from a helicopter or video from another news agency — and that also broadcasts the actual newscasts. 

It’s critical that broadcast engineers have a solid understanding of the equipment they work with. They’re the ones keeping an eye on cutting edge technologies and implementing them in their own workplaces. They’re also the ones who diagnose and solve problems when something technical goes wrong.  That means they need to handle pressure well, have a solid diagnostic ability and work efficiently.  

Circuit design engineer

Circuit boards are an essential component of electronic devices, found in everything from a simple calculator to a relatively complex smart TV. These boards contain wiring that connect and route electricity through components like microchips, transistors and diodes.  

Circuit design engineers work as part of a team to develop this fundamental hardware. Once they’re brought into the mix, they’ll use advanced tools to design a circuit board, taking into consideration the production budget, end goal and technical specifications. They’ll then test and refine their prototype until it meets the specifications set at the outset of the project.

Controls engineer

Unlike the others in this section, controls engineer doesn’t refer to a particular job. Instead, it encompasses a whole category of positions found across nearly every technological industry.  

A controls engineer may design, implement, optimize or maintain a control system, which is the technology that regulates how other devices or systems behave. A control system you might use quite often is your air conditioning. Using a number you input, air conditioners automatically measure the indoor temperature and then “communicate” with other devices that release cool or hot air.  

These systems can get incredibly complex, especially when you move from air conditioning into controls systems for production lines, automotive and aerospace technologies, harnessing clean energy or manufacturing pharmaceuticals. Whatever your interests are, there’s plenty of room to develop as a controls engineer.  

Other jobs electrical engineering can prepare you for 

• Electrical engineer (may require a master’s degree) 
• Electrical technician 
• Nano-electronics engineer 
• Sound engineer 
• Test engineer 
• Industrial technician 

Studying electrical engineering at Pacific

Whatever field you’re interested in, Pacific’s electrical engineering degree offers you a personalized education with a plethora of hands-on learning opportunities. 

The first thing to know is that you’ll mostly be in smaller classes. The university has a 14-to-1 ratio of students to faculty and an average class size of just 24 people. That means you’ll be getting a lot of one-on-one time with your professors to discuss classes, pitch ideas and get support for academic projects.  

The personal atmosphere was one of the draws for Rachel Wood ’13, a Pacific alumna who now works as an engineer at Honeywell Process Solutions.  

“I enjoyed the small classes, taught by professors rather than graduate students,” Wood said. “And I liked my adviser. She worked with me patiently and practically to make a curriculum plan that fit the goals of my study.” 

Students at Pacific also have plenty of opportunities to put their education to use. That means, after you graduate, you don’t need to sweat an entry-level job asking for previous experience. As a student, you’ll be able to use the university’s state-of-the-art labs where you can work with circuits, test equipment and further class projects.  

You’ll also be required to undertake a paid electrical engineering internship as part of the Cooperative Education program, also known as a CO-OP. It’s a chance to build your professional resume and network as you work in a full-time, paid internship for six to eight months.  

To prepare for the CO-OP, you’ll take a class where you’ll learn how to build a solid resume and improve your ability to interview. From there you’ll apply to positions posted on a job board exclusively for CO-OP students.  

In your senior year, you’ll also complete a senior project. As part of a team, you’ll come up with an idea, then develop, implement and refine it over the course of two semesters. This project and the CO-OP can help you show potential employers both your technical and your professional skills.  

Finally, there’s Pacific’s Master of Science in Engineering dual-degree program. Juniors and seniors who meet certain qualifications can apply to enter this program, which allows them to start graduate-level coursework while still an undergraduate.  

These features set Pacific’s electrical engineering degree apart, giving you the chance to find your passions and make your degree truly your own.  

As an engineer at Honeywell, Wood works primarily with battery energy storage systems, her engineering passion. She notes the field is growing, especially when paired with renewable energy or improving business resilience during power outages.  

“If you’re fascinated by electricity and you want to use your problem-solving skills to transition to cleaner, safer and more efficient electrical systems, then electrical engineering might be for you,” Wood said. “It has the power to make life better in the future — pun intended.” 

Next steps

Electrical engineers play an essential role in today’s world. Not only are they responsible for maintaining the systems vital to our everyday lives, but they’re also at the forefront of designing new and more efficient technology to adapt to our changing world. 

If you see yourself as part of that effort, Pacific’s electrical engineering program can help you learn the skills and build the experience needed to join its ranks.

If you wish you could develop video games or create digital tools to improve people’s lives or just enjoy learning how things work and how to manipulate them, you should consider pursuing a career in computer science. 

“It’s fascinating being able to have the computer do things that I don’t think I’m capable of doing, like learning on its own and automating processes in very small amounts of time. It’s just really fascinating,” says Jordan Scharkey ’22 , a University of the Pacific computer science graduate.  

Computer science students learn about what computers and computing systems are and can do. They study programming languages, operating systems, algorithms, network security and ethics, and learn how to develop web apps and manage databases, for the purpose of making computers more useful for people and society. 

Computer science is a relatively new discipline, compared to most college-level fields of study. It was originally a branch of mathematics that used computers to do numerical analysis. The first commercially available computers were built in the 1950s, and computer science departments were created at universities during the 1960s. Because of its emphasis on algorithms and the mechanics of computation, computer science became a separate field of study.  

“I started out in mathematics and that was fun,” Shawn Kerns ’10 recalled. “But I decided I had more of an engineering brain. I want to be able to apply the material, so I switched over to civil engineering, thinking I’d go into architecture. I ended up in computer science, where I found total success, focusing on simulations as well as information security, cyber security.” 

“A big part of all these classes is being able to learn how to learn.”

— Jordan Scharkey ’22
Pacific computer science graduate

What jobs can you get with a computer science degree?

Most jobs for computer scientists fall into two categories: information technology and application development. 

Information Technology 

• Systems architect: Systems architects design, set up and maintain computer systems and networks, making sure that these systems are equipped to handle the demands placed on them and keeping them up to-to-date.  

• Cybersecurity analyst: Cybersecurity analysts monitor computer systems and networks to identify and fix vulnerabilities, protecting organizations from data breaches and investing breaches in rare situations when they do happen.  

• Systems analyst: Systems analysts often recommend updates to computer systems and the acquisition of new platforms to solve business problems and increase efficiencies in an institution’s systems.  

• Database administrator: Database administrators are responsible for making sure that databases are organized in ways that make it easy to extract useful information, and that the data that they contain is reliable and secure.  

• Network administrator: Network administrators are responsible for the daily operations of computer systems and networks, troubleshooting issues that arise and assisting the organization’s other employees as needed.   

• Hardware engineer: Hardware engineers focus on computing networks’ physical aspects, making sure that components such as processing power and memory as sufficient for the demands placed on systems.  

Application Development 

• Computer programmer: Computer programmers write and update code that makes operating systems and applications work properly, and keep it updated to account for new standards and to add new and improved functionality.  

• Software application developer: Software application developers create apps—including games—for desktop, mobile and other platforms.  

• Systems developer: Systems developers do the back-end programming necessary to make computer systems work together, including working on integrations and data migrations.  

• Front-end web developer: Front-end web developers are responsible for the look and feel of website and mobile apps and often work closely with digital designers.  

• Back-end web developer: Back-end developers are responsible for the functionality of websites and mobile apps, making sure they work as intended and providing updates. 

Another possibility is teaching. “It’s probably one of the more rewarding steps of my career so far because I get to see 20, 30 folks in a class go from ‘what is this?’ to full proficiency at the end,” says Kerns, who teaches in Pacific’s School of Engineering and Computer Science and works for Pacific Technology.  “That’s really an amazing thing. It kind of gives me goosebumps to think about it.”  

Why study computer science at Pacific?

Computer scientists are also some of the best-paid professionals today, with starting salaries between $50,000 and $70,000. But starting salaries for Pacific computer science graduates are higher, averaging more than $14,000 over the national average.  

Pacific professors prepare their students for the wide range of possible careers in the field. “Knowing how expansive the area of computer science is, there is no way that you’re going to be able to learn all of it within your time at university. So, a big part of all these classes is being able to learn how to learn, and a lot of faculty understand that,” said Scharkey.

Computer science internships  

Like most students at Pacific’s School of Engineering and Computer Science, computer science majors can take part in the school’s CO-OP program. CO-OP students spend two academic terms working in industries related to their majors, earn an average of $3,700 a month and receive academic credit. This professional experience gives Pacific students a competitive edge in the job market. 

Scharkey worked at NVIDIA during his CO-OP experience, where he worked with a team to run simulation tests on graphic cards and chips and report on their performance.  “I became really mindful of what other members of my team were doing and how I could reach out to them for help, and when they would reach out to me for help, how I could assist them with what I knew,” he said. Scharkey was hired after he graduated. 

Takori Rooks ’23, a computer science major who did his CO-OP with Boeing, encourages students to make connections during their internships. “Network, Network, Network. Make as many meaningful relationships as you can. If you don’t know something, ask. In my experience people are inclined to help because they know that you are an intern,” Rooks said. 

Opportunities for collaboration 

Pacific also provides opportunities for students to incorporate their interests and work collaboratively with students in other degree programs. Computer science major Thypien Son ’22 worked with history, music education, political science, biological sciences and international relations majors to develop Tiger Strides, an app that provides an augmented-reality tour of Pacific’s Stockton Campus that highlights the university’s history of student leadership and activism.  

“It’s a really cool app, honestly, and the process has taught me a lot,” said Son. “It taught me how to work in a team with people who aren’t actually like me most of the time, in the sense of our majors. But it also taught me how to use my skill set to connect with them and learn their skill set to make my work better. And I feel like that’s something I can apply in the real world for my career.”    

Learn more

Explore computer science at Pacific.

Computer Science

“Chemistry is all sorts of things you don’t think of,” says Professor Jerry Tsai, co-chair of the chemistry department at University of the Pacific.  

Chemical reactions take place when we do things like make scrambled eggs for breakfast or wash our hands and are key to making most things we use on a day-to-day basis. And biochemical reactions constantly take place inside of each of us and other living things. Chemists and biochemists analyze rocket fuel, study insecticides and compounds that prevent plant illness, work in pharmacology to create new medicines and therapies, investigate ways to improve foods and more. 

Biochemistry vs chemistry

Chemistry is the study of matter, its elements and structures (atoms, protons, neutrons, and more) and the ways in which types of matter interact with each other. Biochemistry deals specifically with living matter and processes that occur within living things.

Along with gaining fundamental knowledge of subjects including organic, inorganic and analytical chemistry, biochemistry and chemistry students learn specialized skills, such as mass spectrometry, high-performance liquid chromatography, how to purify proteins and ways to synthesize organic molecules.  

Students also gain less-tangible skills; Tsai highlights resilience and confidence. “There are always those times when the research doesn’t go well, and you have to problem solve,” he says. Students with degrees in chemistry or biochemistry are well prepared for any related field.

Chemistry internships for undergraduates

Internships provide students with valuable hands-on experience and broaden their understanding of their fields. Additionally, internships are valuable networking opportunities and sometimes lead to employment with the company offering the internship.  

Pacific chemistry students have interned at industry leaders such as Agilent Technologies, Gilead Sciences, Genentech, MasSpec Lab, Thermo Fisher Scientific, E. & J. Gallo Winery and Minex Company, among others. 

Careers with a degree in chemistry

Graduates with bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry or chemistry typically choose one of two paths after graduation: They go on to graduate or professional school or, less commonly, they take entry-level jobs.  

Entry-level jobs in the chemical sciences

Graduates with degrees in biochemistry or chemistry can work as lab techs or in other roles that would be categorized as being a “bench scientist,” in biotechnology or health care:  

• Lab techs in health care work in hospitals and urgent care clinics; diagnostic, forensic and public health laboratories; blood blanks; and pharmaceutical companies. They run tests on blood, tissue and urine samples to assist in diagnosing diseases or assessing the success of treatments. Their work supports doctors and others in the medical field, helping them to provide personalized care for their patients.  

• Lab techs in industry might work at biotechnology companies, in the energy sector or the food or beverage industry, or for chemical manufacturing or cosmetics companies. They analyze materials and products under development to ensure they meet the necessary health, safety or other specifications, providing quality control and enabling technological advances.  

Jobs where scientific literacy is important

• Science teacher: Science teachers introduce students to science for the first time, playing an important role in increasing scientific literacy and encouraging careers in the sciences. Science teachers with a background in chemistry might teach chemistry, environmental science or forensic science, depending on the needs of their schools. (Usually, a teaching credential or a master’s degree is required for teaching science in elementary, middle or high schools.)  

• Pacific’s PacNoyce Scholars Program provides scholarships for college and graduate students in the STEM disciplines who commit to teaching for two years in high-need school districts. 

• Science writer: Science writers explain the significance of scientific discoveries and innovations and the intricacies of natural phenomena to the public. They write for print and online publications focused on science and mainstream publications with a broader audience, telling stories and making informed arguments for policy changes.  

• Working in government or industry: Scientific literacy is important for working in many scientific companies, even if the day-to-day work (in operations or marketing or government relations) isn’t in a scientific field. Similarly, having a scientific background is useful in many government roles, including analyst positions in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) or other federal or state agencies.  

Graduate and professional schools

Students go to graduate school for biochemistry or chemistry or to professional school for dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, medicine or veterinary medicine.  

Many colleges, including University of the Pacific, have pre-health pathways to help students meet the course requirements for graduate school in the health professions. 

Why study biochemistry at Pacific?

“Because we’re not so huge, we get more one-on-one time with students, and they get more hands-on experience working side-by-side with faculty members,” says Tsai. Andrew Parkins, who received his PhD in biochemistry from Pacific this year, echoed this, saying professors “allow you to stand out by being curious, asking good questions and wanting to learn more.”  

Opportunities for research

“Pacific offers signature research activities for undergrads, which gives them skills that they can use directly,” says Jianhua Ren, chemistry department co-chair. Some of the projects that Pacific chemistry and biochemistry students have contributed to have included synthesizing proteins; making peptides, which can be used to deliver drugs to specific targets; and cancer research involving chemokines, proteins that facilitate the movement of white blood cells. 

“I think it’s easier to find research opportunities [at Pacific] because it’s a small school and a very small chemistry and biochemistry department. You get to know the professors pretty quickly and then you just find your niche,” said Sonderegger, who participated in Pacific’s Stauffer Grant program. 

Each year in the Stauffer Grant program, students apply to participate in cutting-edge research with faculty members. Eight to 10 students are selected and each receives an $8,000 stipend. Their work culminates in a presentation in August. Students are sometimes co-authors on publications, which allows them to further demonstrate their experience on graduate school applications and resumes.

Career development and opportunities for networking 

“Something unique about Pacific is that we have a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance machine and the mass spectrometry lab,” Sonderegger added. “Having that kind of very advanced equipment and people who know how to use it and are willing to train you is a huge advantage.” 

Faculty take students to national meetings of professional associations where they can network and broaden their understandings of work being done in the field. And Pacific’s location in California means that students have easy access to biotech companies in the Silicon Valley and nearby for internships and future employment.   

The result of these advantages is that Pacific biochemistry and chemistry students have great success in graduate and professional school placements. 

Still have questions?

Learn more about studying chemistry at Pacific.

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The digitization of so many aspects of our lives has opened a window into our world in ways we could not have imagined a few years ago. From the statistics generated by wearable medical- and fitness-tracking devices to the digitizing of printed books and handwritten manuscripts to the analytics data that all digital platforms collect, more information is available to more people more easily than ever before.  

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and other developments mean that we also have increasingly powerful and sophisticated tools for exploring and analyzing data of all kinds. AI allows us to “make machines that can do things we thought only humans could do,” says Jim Hetrick, director of Pacific’s new undergraduate data science program as well as its longer-standing master’s program. “It’s an explosive time for data science.”  

Data scientists analyze data to answer—and raise—a plethora of questions in nearly every setting we can imagine. Data scientists are found in a wide variety of settings, from businesses to governmental agencies to think tanks to universities. They do work that includes gauging the success of social programs, predicting the geographic spread of diseases, and identifying ways to increase the performance of athletic teams.  

Data science programs prepare students to do this work by teaching them statistical methods, programming languages and the use of analytics tools so that they can manipulate, interpret, explain and act on data wherever they are employed.  

Data science vs. business analytics 

While there are some similarities between data science and business analytics programs, the most basic difference between them is that business analytics programs typically offer a business degree.  

The business analytics curriculum teaches data analysis in the context of business operations; data science is more open-ended. Business analytics majors interested in double-majoring are encouraged to find another business school major, but a data science student could benefit from finding a second major in nearly any subject. 

Business analysts are focused on business objectives: increasing efficiencies, growing the business and increasing its bottom line. They tend to be process-driven, and business analytics programs tend to focus on using tools including Excel and Power BI.  

Data scientists are more outcome-driven. Consequently, data science programs tend to require more math, statistics and programing classes.  

Nine data science career paths

The field of data science is expected to grow by 32% by 2032—much faster than the 3% expected growth rate for all fields combined, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Here are some of the careers open to data scientists: 

1. Crime analytics: Crime analysts support police departments in a wide variety of ways, including creating threat assessments based on historical data and intelligence, creating data visualizations for presentation in court, and suggesting locations that could benefit from increased police presence or methods for deterring crime.  

2. Data engineers: Data engineers are responsible for collecting and curating data in preparation for analytical uses. They also are often responsible for providing data to stakeholders, so they must know how to extract data using whatever methods are necessary. If you’re interested in becoming a data engineer, you should consider double-majoring in computer science and data science.  
3. Geospatial analysis: Geospatial analysts use geographic information systems technology and other tools to analyze location-related data. They work in fields as diverse as urban planning and military intelligence. Project could include predicting which neighborhoods’ streetlights are most likely to need maintenance soon or determining which areas might be at the highest risk of a catastrophic wildfire.  
4. Government and public policy: Data analysts working for government agencies or nonprofit organizations study the effectiveness of existing and potential programs to understand how they could be improved upon; examine inequities in society to determine how to best address them; and investigate ways to make services available more efficiently.  
5. Health care analytics: Health care analysts use data to find ways to improve patient care and reduce inefficiencies in the use of hospital resources, time and billing; to create data visualizations to model public health data; and use public data on social determinants of health to predict disease prevalence and spread.  
6. Image analytics: Data analysts process images using programs, including AI tools, to extract information from images. This can include recognizing letters and numbers and converting them to text, using facial recognition for sentiment analysis, and testing visual regressions in web development as well as photo identification and organization.  
7. Marketing analytics: Marketing analysts study all aspects of the sales funnel to optimize tactics and increase sales. This can include analyzing email and social media marketing metrics, studying subscriber or customer churn, ticket pricing and more.  
8. Sports analytics: Sports analysts find ways for players and teams to improve by studying game film and sports data. At Pacific, math professor John Mayberry and water polo coach James Graham have collaborated with students to improve the water polo team’s performance.  
9. Thought leadership: There is a need for thoughtful, well-informed writers and speakers on ethical and social uses of AI. “You want to give them the values that we aspire to, but they’re looking at the data on how we actually act,” says Hetrick. There are ample opportunities to explore the possibilities and perils of AI in contexts ranging from its economic impacts to the challenges it poses to intellectual property rights to its role in the practices creative and academic life.  

The possibilities are nearly limitless. “There is no organization that doesn’t have data that they have to wrestle with,” says Hetrick. “Nobody I’ve talked to has ever said, ‘Thanks, but we understand all of our data.’”

Data science at Pacific 

Pacific’s Bachelor of Science in Data Science is designed to encourage participation by students who might not be immediately drawn to majoring in a STEM discipline, while allowing those who want a more technical education to dive deep into it. The program is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the College of the Pacific and the School of Engineering and Computer Science. 

Data science degree requirements can vary. The technical depth of Pacific’s program depends on the track chosen: Data Engineering, Decision-Making, Storytelling or Predictive Modeling and Machine Learning.  

“A strong math background is incredibly helpful, but it’s not necessarily a detriment if you don’t have one. Motivation and a growth mindset are more important,” says Mayberry, who was instrumental in creating the undergraduate data science program.  

All data science students learn the needed fundamentals of math, statistics and programming.  

Students are encouraged to double-major to either expand the breadth of their knowledge and skills or to double-down on the technical side of the degree. Recommended second majors include economics, political science, biology, math, English, art, psychology and engineering. 

Regardless of the track chosen, Pacific’s data science education includes a strong ethical and philosophical component. We need to learn “how to use these systems to augment our humanity rather than replace it,” Hetrick says. He instructs his students to consider “not just ‘What are the tools?’ but ‘How do we responsibly use them?’” 

Experiential learning is part of that: a student’s capstone requirement can be fulfilled by completing an internship or completing a project under the direction of a faculty member. 

Data science internships 

Internships involving data science are becoming easier to find as the field grows. Here are a sampling of the internships Pacific students have done recently: 

Internships involving data science are becoming easier to find as the field grows. Here are a sampling of the internships Pacific students have done recently:  

• For Gallo Winery, analyzing tank fermentation to optimize the process; examining customer churn; and analyzing email marketing efforts to understand who was unsubscribing and why. 
• For the St. Joseph’s hospital system, analyzing patient care data to improve care.  
• For the Sacramento Kings, ticket pricing.  
• For Sparta Healthcare, analyzing jump assessment data to determine which athletes were at greatest risk of rotator cuff injuries.  
• For the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority, analyzing the locations where parking meters were frequently being damaged or destroyed.  
• For the Oakland Roots Sports Club, a professional soccer team based in Oakland, analyzing game statistics to discover gaps in their offense and defense, and which available players fit those gaps, to guide recruiting efforts. 

Master’s degree in data science 

For students who want a career that goes deep into data science, graduate education can help. Accelerated 4+1 pathways to Pacific’s Master of Science in Data Science are in place for students in the BS in applied mathematics and BS in economics programs, and an accelerated pathway to the master’s degree for data science undergraduate students will be made available.  

 
Learn more about Pacific’s data science program. 

Elisa Cabrera ’25, is one of Eberhardt School of Business’s most dedicated students. Already pursuing her master’s in accounting with a minor in computer science, she took on many other opportunities that the school has to offer. She was the CEO of the Student Investment Fund, the public relations director of the Delta Gamma sorority, and vice president of marketing for the Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity. 

“First, I was a little overwhelmed,” Elisa recounted, “but as I got into it a little bit more, I realized that there’s a lot of deep thinking and a lot of knowledge that I can retain, that I can actually use for my own personal life.”  

Earning two degrees at once

Elisa is on course to receive her bachelor’s and master’s in accounting in just five years with Pacific’s dual-degree program. 

Pacific’s dual accounting degree fast-tracks your pursuit of a bachelor’s and master’s degree, while preparing you for the California CPA exam. Elisa took a wide variety of courses after enrolling in the program. 

“With the accounting master’s program, you’re taking managerial, accounting and a bunch of other accounting courses that may not actually be offered to you at a lot of other schools,” Elisa explained. “This can include taxes, auditing and a lot of other courses that can actually prepare you for the CPA exam.” 

Leading Pacific’s Student Investment Fund

While Elisa has been working toward her master’s degree, she was also CEO and the chief financial officer of the Eberhardt Student Investment Fund (SIF).  Elisa and the other SIF students manage an investment portfolio that is approaching $4 million dollars. In the 17 years since the SIF program began, Students were able to return $1.6 million of the fund’s net assets to the University in support of Pacific’s mission and activities.  

 As CEO, Elisa has been responsible for ensuring the class stayed on track, presentations were on time and that students were all familiar with analyzing financial data on the Bloomberg terminal. Elisa says the CEO position helped her land an internship with Bowman and Company, an accounting firm in Stockton. “It looks really impressive on a resume,” she said. 

Elisa says one of the most valuable experiences SIF students get is their annual trip to New York where they tour the financial district, including the New York Stock Exchange. 

“We were actually able to talk to investment bankers and see what their daily life actually looks like,” Elisa said. “So, it’s a great opportunity if you want to actually put yourself in the shoes of an investment banker.” 

Entering the world of finance

With graduation around the corner, Elisa is confident about the journey ahead. 

“I definitely want to take advantage of the knowledge being fresh in my head and passing that [CPA] exam,” she said. “On top of that, I’m also hoping to work full time for Bowman and Company, which is the company that I’ll be starting my internship for.” 

 Elisa credits her professors for helping her succeed at Pacific. She encourages other students to take advantage of the opportunities the university offers. 

“Don’t take the small class sizes for granted. With the small class sizes, you’re definitely able to reach out to your professors a lot more easily with a lot of larger schools,” she said 

Learn more about getting a bachelor and master’s in accounting in five years in Pacific’s Master of Accounting dual-degree program.

By Nicholas McConnell, Academic Assessment Director and Chris Goff, General Education Director and Professor of Mathematics 

A pharmacist applies knowledge in chemistry and biology to develop safe and effective medication regimens, and also must understand how to navigate health care systems ethically.  An engineer designs structures and systems and must communicate effectively with their team. A singer develops fine-tuned mastery of her voice and also needs to truthfully convey the social contexts of songs she performs.  

While each of Pacific’s majors and programs prepares you with a deep knowledge and skill base you will use professionally, we also recognize the critical professional value of cross-disciplinary skills, such as communication and complex problem-solving. At Pacific, you’ll develop these skills through a combination of courses in your major and courses in our General Education (GE) program. 

Why General Education? 

Many students question why universities require GE courses, but don’t realize that GE courses will contribute to their lifelong success just as much as courses where they master specific professional knowledge.  

How? Employers are seeking individuals who can use a broad array of skills and viewpoints to problem-solve independently and grow into leadership roles. The world’s most urgent problems are too complex to solve using a single discipline or branch of knowledge. That’s why GE courses at Pacific are designed to cross disciplinary boundaries and address real-life issues.  

General Education at Pacific 

All first-year students take the CORE 001 GE course in their first semester at Pacific. In CORE 001, you’ll spend a semester analyzing and creatively exploring a complex issue, such as human migration or free speech in a world of divided opinions.  

Throughout the semester, you will complete assignments and group projects that build your competence in three major learning areas: problem-solving, information literacy and small-group communication. To analyze and address the topic of your CORE 001 section, you’ll consider several distinct perspectives in addition to your own. CORE 001 will help you develop the kinds of self-directed and collaborative skills you will need in your further studies and eventually in your career.  

For example, in history professor Laura Gutierrez’s section of CORE 001, students focused on California’s Central Valley and the complex interactions between health, the environment and the needs of agribusiness.  Professor Gutierrez also incorporated Wikipedia Classroom into her curriculum, so instead of writing normal research papers, students published articles online.   

Through the course, students learned how to create and edit Wikipedia pages collaboratively, find and cite relevant high-quality research, and raise awareness of their research topic—all of which are skills that will make them competitive candidates when applying for jobs. 

How to navigate your GE classes 

If you’re worried about achieving success in your GE classes, it’s important to recognize that GE courses are designed for students from any major—and that any student can ultimately succeed in them, even if the course content or ways of thinking initially seem unfamiliar.  

When you navigate and overcome the initial challenge you experience around a new topic, you’ll build resilience for the challenges you’ll face as a professional including workforce needs that will shift multiple times over your career. Remember, unexpected challenges present opportunities for growth! 

If you have questions about when to take GE courses or how to balance them with your major requirements, reach out to your academic adviser. If you’re curious about Pacific’s GE areas and learning outcomes, you can learn more on the General Education page on Pacific’s website. 

Many students cite the Cooperative Education Program (CO-OP) as the reason they decided to attend Pacific’s School of Engineering and Computer Science. CO-OP gives students the opportunity to gain real-world experience in their field for six to nine months, while also earning units toward their degree. 

We reached out to SOECS students who recently completed their CO-OPs to learn more about the benefits of the program and what they got out of the experience. Here’s what they said.  

Gain job hunting and interview skills 

Davis Young ’22 

Major: Computer engineering 

CO-OP: Micron Technology

“To prepare for CO-OP, you take a class that teaches you the professional development aspects, like resume building, LinkedIn page building, how to apply for a job and interview etiquette. The school helps facilitate the internship application process, and if one of the companies accepts you, you can get hands-on industry experiece during a whole semester and summer.” 

Learn more about Davis 

Earn a paycheck and gain work experience

Monica Castillo ’21 

Major: Electrical engineering 

CO-OP: Abbott Laboratories 

“Once you get your internship, you work with your company for six to nine months as a paid intern. At the same time, you’re taking classes that guide you through what you learn. It’s very important to do this program because you get work experience and you build your soft skills, like communicating, presenting or writing.” 

Learn how to collaborate with a team

Jordan Scharkey ’22  

Major: Computer science  

CO-OP: NVIDIA  

“My biggest takeaway from the experience is probably working as part of a large team. In a lot of programming settings, it’s really easy to get really dialed into what you are doing, just yourself. Whereas, from this experience, I became really mindful of what other members of my team were doing and how I could reach out to them for help—and when they would reach out to me for help, how I could assist them with what I knew.”  

Learn more about Jordan 

Connect classroom knowledge to industry practice  

Jenny Vo ’23 

Major: Bioengineering  

CO-OP: Abbott Laboratories 

“At Abbott, I worked in the heart failure unit. They taught me how medical devices are made, like what the FDA is and what they are looking for when approving products. It was totally different from a day in my life as a college student. They took me seriously as an engineer and gave me a lot of tasks. I was basically solving problems day-to-day, which I really liked, so it gave me the sense that what I’m doing is right for my interests.” 

Learn more about Jenny 

Build a professional network 

Takori Rooks ’23 

Major: Computer science 

CO-OP: Boeing 

“To work at Boeing allows me to learn and work with engineers who are passionate about the same things as I am. My advice to students just starting a CO-OP is to network, network, network. Make as many meaningful relationships as you can. If you don’t know something, ask. In my experience, people are inclined to help because they know that you are an intern.” 

Learn more about Takori 

Living on campus, especially during your first year in college, will not only help you achieve academic and personal success, but also give you a greater sense of belonging to the Pacific community.  

Living on campus also goes hand-in-hand with increased graduation and retention rates among students. That’s why we require Pacific students to live in our residential halls during their first two years. Plus, living on campus is a fun, fulfilling experience that we want all Tigers to have! 

Just ask marketing major Mariana Arellano ’25, who lives on the Stockton Campus even though her family is only 35 minutes away in Modesto. One of the reasons Mariana loves living on campus is because she believes separating her family life from her school life is important.  

“There wouldn’t be much home-school life balance if I did schoolwork in the living room or in my dining room,” said Mariana. “I had to have that separation. So now, when I do go home, I can be fully with my family and keep school at school.”  

Mariana has made many new friends at Pacific. Most of them live right next door in her residential hall. She also has an on-campus job that’s just a short walk from her room.  

“Living on campus helps me academically, socially, emotionally and even physically. I have easy access to the gym,” said Mariana. “I have access to food if I feel hungry. I have access to my friends if I need that extra support. And if I do need to go home because I feel a little homesick, I’m not too far off.”  

From a variety of housing options to using university resources and making social connections, you’ll have invaluable experiences while living and studying on Pacific’s beautiful campus. Here are a few more benefits:  

Support 

Living on campus alongside your fellow Tigers during your first year in college will make your transition to college so much smoother.  

Pacific’s residence halls also have resident advisers (RAs) who are here to help and support you. RAs are trained and experienced students who help their residents stay safe and well on their designated floors. They can help you out if you ever have a housing or roommate issue. 

Convenience 

Living on Pacific’s campus is all-inclusive. You’ll have access to housing, dining, Wi-Fi and recreational facilities. You’ll also be in walking distance of your classrooms, the library, the gym and administrative offices. You can even enjoy entertainment at on-campus events, the movie theater and the concert hall! 

And you’ll never be hungry—our dining hall has a carefully curated menu including vegan, vegetarian and glute-free items. Campus dining is a major time-saver that will spare you from having to buy groceries and cook on the regular.  

Academic performance 

Research shows that students who live on campus perform better academically. By living on the Stockton Campus, you’ll have easy access to academic facilities and face fewer challenges, like commuting or preparing meals. In turn, this will allow you more time to focus on your studies 

“One of my biggest benefits is those extra minutes of sleeping in before having to walk to class rather than having to wake up early to have to drive,” said Mariana. “It really helps on those days when it’s finals week or I have a big project due soon or I just have to get that extra time for studying.”  

When you live on campus, you’ll also feel a greater sense of belonging to the Pacific community. You’ll get to know your fellow Tigers and professors and will feel comfortable reaching out to them for support. You’ll also have the opportunity to take advantage of campus resources like tutoring or counseling services.   

Diversity 

Pacific’s diverse campus environment will give you access to dozens of clubs, organizations and activities where you’ll meet and learn from people of all different backgrounds.  

Living and socializing with people from all different cultural backgrounds on a daily basis can help you develop collaboration, respect and tolerance. These skills will help you succeed in your personal and professional life throughout college and beyond! 

If you have questions, visit Pacific’s Residential Life and Housing webpage or contact the office at 209.946.2331 or iamhome@pacific.edu. You can also ask us questions in the comments below! 

College of the Pacific’s new dean is on campus! Meet Dean Lee Skinner, who joined Pacific earlier this month to lead our university’s liberal arts and sciences school.  

Skinner was most recently dean of Newcomb-Tulane College at Tulane University. She also previously served as associate dean at Claremont McKenna College. 

Dean Skinner shared that she was drawn to COP because of the college’s diverse and driven students, as well as the dedicated faculty and staff.  

“I was attracted to the students’ passion for their education and the diversity of the student body,” Skinner said. “Getting to be part of the largest college at Pacific with such a diversity of intellectual and academic interests is also exciting.” 

Dean Skinner said she is looking forward to connecting with COP students and the entire Pacific community. If you see her on campus, be sure to give her a warm welcome and introduce yourself! 

“I welcome students to come and meet me if they see me wandering around campus,” she said. “I’m excited to be a part of the Pacific community and family.”  
 
Watch the video to learn about Dean Skinner’s vision for the future of COP.