Civil Engineering Technology Program Map

Award type:

AS Degree
Certificate of Achievement

The Civil Engineering Technology program is designed to prepare students to enter the world of Civil Engineering Technologists or Technicians. The program has sufficient breadth to include surveying, map drafting, and computer aided drafting (CAD). After completion of the two-year program, the student will be prepared to enter civil engineering technology at the entry level. To be successful in this program it is desirable that students have background in math through intermediate algebra, physics, and science. A year or more of high school drafting is a plus. Students should be prepared for a rigorous two-year training program. Students who are still enrolled in high school and considering a career as a civil engineering technologist or technician are encouraged to take classes in math, drafting and computer science. Students who complete this program will be able to serve on a field survey crew, work in an engineering office, and prepare maps for recordation. Students will be able to prepare maps with both conventional drafting instruments and with the help of the computer (CAD). In every constituency there exists a need for trained engineering technicians and technologists. The information in this course of study is used daily in most public works departments in all counties and in all engineering offices in the state.

Program detailsAward, code, department, CIP/TOP

Community of interest: STEM Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
Award: AS Degree
Program code: 01322.00AS
Department: Civil Engineering Tech
CIP code: 15.0201: Civil Engineering Technology/Technician.
TOP code: 0924.00 - Engineering Technology, General (requires Trigonometry)*

Map Class Schedule

Program Schedule Report Meet with a counselor

Civil Engineering Technology

AS Degree

The Associate of Science is typically awarded for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. Like every Butte College associate degree, it has two parts: a general-education curriculum that gives you a broad base of knowledge, and an academic program where you specialize.

About General Education. GE is an integrated program of learning designed to foster intellectual curiosity, cultural understanding, critical thinking, creative reasoning, oral and written communication, and the capacity for ethical reasoning. By graduation, you'll have developed the ability to think critically, communicate clearly, apply quantitative reasoning, understand how the major academic disciplines ask their questions, comprehend diverse cultures and historical periods, and assess ethical problems — alongside the depth you build in your major.

See the 2025-26 Catalog for official program details

Semester-by-Semester Map

Term 1

Class Schedules

16 units

DFT 4

Print Reading for Construction and Architecture

3 units

Students will learn to read and interpret drawings and specifications used in construction and architectural applications. Topics include line types, views, dimensions, symbols, sketching, materials, specifications, and estimating. Students will use construction prints, drawings and specifications including residential and non-residential applications.

DFT 12

Beginning AutoCAD Drafting

3 units

This course introduces students to basic drafting concepts using both freehand sketching and AutoCAD, an industry-standard computer-aided drafting (CAD) application. It is intended for drafting majors, engineering majors, interior design majors and pre-architectural students. Topics include line and geometric shape development, freehand sketching, basic AutoCAD commands, text commands, file management, orthographic and pictorial projection, dimensioning, sectioning, auxiliaries, and architectural drawings using sketching and a two-dimensional (2D) drafting application. Document reproduction, printing and plotting will be introduced and practiced.

ENGR 1

Introduction to Engineering

3 units

The course explores the career branches of engineering including the functions of an engineer in various settings and the industries in which engineers work. Topics will span the life cycle of the engineering professions from education to career including guided exploration of educational pathways, time-management, study-skill development through engineering-skill building activities focused on design and creation of products and ethical practices. The engineering process will be used to develop essential project management skills in the context of being introduced to ubiquitous systems used by engineers such as sensors, pneumatics, hydraulics, AC and DC motor control, simple electrical circuits, machine controllers, programming, and computational tools for testing and analysis. A spreadsheet program and high-level computer language programs are integral parts of the course. (C-ID ENGR 110).

MATH 20

Trigonometry

3 units

Meets Area 2.

This course covers the theory and applications of trigonometry. The topics include definitions of circular and right triangle trigonometric functions, graphs, identities, equations, solutions of right and oblique triangles, vectors, polar coordinates, and complex numbers.

Prerequisite: Intermediate Algebra or equivalent

Select one: Meets Area 1A

Required

4 units

Choose one of 2 choices

ENGL C1000
Academic Reading and Writing
4 units
course details
In this course, students receive instruction in academic reading and writing, including writing processes, effective use of language, analytical thinking, and the foundations of academic research. This course focuses on close reading; expository, argumentative, and fictional texts; and develops expository, persuasive and argumentative academic writing. Essays will demonstrate analysis, critique, and synthesis. Graded only. (C-ID ENGL 100).
Prerequisite: Placement as determined by the college’s multiple measures assessment process
+−
ENGL C1000E
Academic Reading and Writing
4 units
course details
In this course, students receive instruction in academic reading and writing, including writing processes, effective use of language, analytical thinking, and the foundations of academic research. This course includes embedded support. This course builds on literacy practices by developing expository and argumentative writing, awareness of audience, purpose and research strategies including documentation. Primarily expository and argumentative texts will be used, responding to a variety of rhetorical situations. Graded only. (C-ID ENGL 100).
Prerequisite: Placement as determined by the college’s multiple measures assessment process
+−

Term 2

Class Schedules

15 units

DFT 2

Engineering Graphics I

3 units

This is a computer-based engineering graphics course that introduces students to graphical design and problem solving using freehand sketching and a solid modeling application. Topics include sketching and modeling using extrudes, sweeps, and lofts. Additional topics include assemblies development and detail drawing output. Graphics standards including American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Y14.5 and international standards application will be introduced and practiced.

DFT 24

Architectural Drafting Applications

3 units

This is a computer-based drafting course that introduces the student to architectural drafting applications. Building on basic drafting concepts learned previously, this course will introduce residential design concepts including floor plans, foundation plans and details, elevations, framing and section plans, mechanical, electrical and plumbing plans and engineering site plans. Students will also be introduced to three-dimensional (3D) architectural modeling. Students will prepare a plan set including coversheet, site plan, floor plan, electrical plan, elevations, building section and construction details using AutoCAD.

ENGR 3

Plane Surveying I

3 units

The course applies theory and principles of plane surveying: office computations and design; operation of surveying field equipment; and production of engineering plans/maps. Topics include distances, angles, and directions; differential leveling; traversing; property/boundary surveys; topographic surveys/mapping; volume/earthwork; horizontal and vertical curves; land description techniques; and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Extensive field work using tapes, levels, transits, theodolites, total stations, and GPS. (C-ID ENGR 180).

Prerequisite: MATH 20, MATH 28, MATH 28s or high school trigonometry

General Education: Area 6

Ethnic Studies

The histories, experiences, and contributions of the four autonomous disciplines: Black / African American / Africana studies, Native American studies, Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x studies, and Asian American studies.

Elective (any course numbered 1-99 or C1000-C1999)

Only necessary if the 60 units needed to graduate have not been completed. Consider taking a Cal-GETC General Education course. Visit www.assist.org to see options.

Term 3

Class Schedules

14–16 units

ENGR 4

Plane Surveying II

3 units

This course introduces students to civil engineering design standards, concepts and procedures related to transportation engineering and construction management. Topics include the standards and design of horizontal curves, vertical curves and earthwork related to transportation projects in addition to survey staking, state plane coordinates, geographic information systems and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) related to project surveying. The laboratory portion of the course includes the application of 3-dimensional graphic modeling software requiring creativity in design, development of construction plans, and operation of modern surveying equipment, such as total stations and GPS.

Prerequisite: ENGR 3

General Education: Area 4

Social and Behavioral Sciences

The systematic study of people as members of society — cultural anthropology, cultural geography, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology — and the methods these disciplines use to ask their questions.

General Education: Area 5

Physical and Biological Sciences

The physical universe, its life forms, and its natural phenomena — astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, meteorology, oceanography, physics — taught alongside the scientific method that makes them work.

Graduation Requirement Choice (See GE Guide)

Elective (any course numbered 1-99 or C1000-C1999)

Only necessary if the 60 units needed to graduate have not been completed. Consider taking a Cal-GETC General Education course. Visit www.assist.org to see options.

Term 4

Class Schedules

15–16 units

General Education: Area 1B

Oral Communication and Critical Thinking

Baccalaureate-level oral communication and/or critical thinking — speaking with structure to a live audience, analyzing arguments, identifying assumptions.

General Education: Area 3

Arts and Humanities

How people and cultures, across time, respond to themselves and the world through artistic and cultural creative production. Visual and performing arts, art history, foreign languages, literature, philosophy, religion.

Elective (any course numbered 1-99 or C1000-C1999)

Only necessary if the 60 units needed to graduate have not been completed. Consider taking a Cal-GETC General Education course. Visit www.assist.org to see options.

Career Connections

2-Year Degree Paths

Entry points students may pursue after associate-level study, technical preparation, or licensure pathways.

No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset point cleanly to an immediate 2-year outcome for this program.

4-Year Degree Paths

Roles that more often open up after transfer and a bachelor's degree.

No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset are grouped into the 4-year pathway for this program.

Graduate School Paths

Advanced roles commonly associated with graduate, professional, or post-baccalaureate study.

No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset are grouped into the graduate-school pathway for this program.

Source Notes

Course sequencing is generated from the Acadia Program Mapper cache. Career groupings use local CIP-to-SOC mappings and BLS occupation data when available. Confirm education plans with Counseling and Advising.

No NCES/IPEDS CIP-to-SOC mapping was found for this program's CIP code.

Last generated 2026-06-12T23:18+00:00

Program Snapshot

Next Steps

2-Year Degree Paths

4-Year Degree Paths

Graduate School Paths

Source Notes