College Mission

One of the hallmarks of modern times is the acceptance of accelerating change, both in technological products and in educational philosophies. Few college graduates function today solely with the skills and understanding that they gained in formal degree programs.

Recognizing that the undergraduates of Arkansas State University will pursue their careers in an ever changing world, the overall mission of the College of Engineering is to provide a broad education in the fundamentals of engineering and technology while providing opportunities for emphasis in specialized areas of study.

An important corollary is the development of the ability to think logically, creatively, and quantitatively, and the skills necessary to effectively communicate both fundamental and applied knowledge. This unified approach provides an inherently flexible base that permits graduates to fill general or specialized positions in industry, government, and private practice or to pursue advanced degrees after graduation.

Five Year Vision: BRIDGING BETWEEN PAST SUCCESSES AND THE FUTURE

The programs of the Arkansas State University College of Engineering have evolved over the last four decades with a clear vision of commitment to the education of its undergraduate students and the success of its graduates, as well as its service to a broader base of regional constituents, for example, Midsouth industry, agriculture, and schools. As it addresses the new opportunities and challenges of the future, this vision and commitment still serve as firm anchor points.

The college currently has programs in civil engineering; electrical; mechanical engineering; and technology, each with its own official director. A dean supports and assists the directors and faculty in charting and implementing the mission of the college. All of the current engineering programs fall under a common degree umbrella: a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, with official professional concentration areas for students in one of the programs or in a custom individually planned program with upper-level engineering courses cutting across more than one engineering field. The technology program offers both associate and bachelor of science degrees with a variety of sub-specializations including manufacturing/industrial technology, printing technology, technology management, and technical studies.

The B.S.E program was accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) in 1987 with this accreditation retroactive to 1984. Maintaining ABET accreditation is a paramount goal of the college and is absolutely critical to recruiting and retention of students, as well as their marketability and career success after graduation. The college will be visited again by an ABET team in the fall of 2004, will be evaluated under the challenging new ABET 2000 criteria, and is currently performing the tremendous amount of work required to prepare for this evaluation.

The college is also firmly committed to preparing students to eventually become licensed professional engineers. Nearly all ASU engineering seniors take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Examination and have historically had pass rates well above state and national averages, in part due to a healthy emphasis on common engineering fundamentals and practical design skills in ASU engineering courses. A significant percentage of its graduates go on to take and pass the Principles of Engineering (PE) Examination and become licensed professional engineers a few years after graduation after they have satisfied the prerequisite experience criteria. Industrial employers consider having passed the FE and subsequent professional engineering registration a major plus in hiring and promotion decisions. The college's emphasis on professionalism is also enhanced through active student branches of engineering professional societies such as ASAE, ASCE, ASME, IEEE, NSBE, and SME and participation of student teams in competitive events.

Although not yet having its own graduate program, the college has always been committed to graduate education for the appropriately qualified and interested student. Numerous ASU engineering graduates have gone on to obtain master and doctoral degrees at other institutions and a few in other programs at ASU. ASU engineering faculty have actively mentored many students with the goal of graduate education and have provided many with undergraduate research, scholarship, and other professional opportunities. All reports have been that ASU engineering graduates have performed exceedingly well in both the classroom and research laboratories of other institutions' graduate programs. As ASU rapidly expands its slate of graduate programs, including doctoral programs such as the current multidisciplinary Ph.D. in Environmental Science (in which some engineering faculty and graduate students are already active) and a likely future partner program in the biosciences, the College of Engineering is preparing to propose its own master degree program(s) in the very near future, as a supplement to the primary mission of excellent undergraduate education.

ASU faculty have been active in a wide variety of basic and applied research projects including concrete and structural design, semiconductor materials and devices, thin film materials engineering, environmental engineering, agricultural technologies, acoustics, sensors, and numerical modeling and simulation. Most have been externally funded through state and federal agencies or industry. The emphasis on research and scholarship is increasing as the university itself is in the process of significantly enhancing its research mission and capabilities. The college has always supported the research, scholarship, professional consulting, and professional development of its faculty and their synergism with instructional and programmatic goals. It has particularly encouraged the active involvement of undergraduate research assistants. Many of these have also served as presenters and coauthors on presentations and/or publications, have been awarded student research grants and fellowships, and gone on to graduate school.

The ASU engineering faculty have always had excellent working relationships with regional business, industry, and agriculture, frequently serving as consultants to such. These commercial operations greatly value the availability and service of the faculty and benefit from their high-level knowledge and experience. They reciprocate through donations to the university, hiring ASU engineering students as interns or employees, providing seminar speakers and part-time adjunct faculty, having their employees take engineering and technology courses, serving as partners on proposals and grants funded by state and federal agencies, and providing input to the college, for example through industrial representatives on the college's Engineering Advisory Council. The college also recognizes the powerful benefits that such consulting and applied research activities have to the quality and relevance of the instruction provided its students and in the establishment of their contacts in professional arenas. The College of Engineering has also always had good relationships with regional public schools and junior colleges and both recruits from and provides occasional technical information for these institutions.

The college actively strives to maintain an environment highly conducive to excellence in instruction and learning. There is a firm commitment to manageable class sizes and direct interaction between faculty and students, both inside and outside of the classroom. Two way class discussions, grading of homework, working of problems in class, generous faculty office hours, and afternoon help sessions are just some of the ways in which this pleasant, effective learning environment is fostered. All faculty get to know most students in all of the engineering programs on a first name basis. There is also a strong multidisciplinary flavor to the program in that all students have to take a common core of engineering courses and are exposed to different perspectives from professors in the different programs. On the other hand, the college also recognizes that there are significant differences, as well as broad commonalities, among the different programs and supports considerable autonomy and self-definition by the respective program directors and their faculty and students.

The college is also firmly committed to the welfare of all of its constituents including students, staff, graduates, faculty, and all of their families. Its faculty believe strongly in the cherished university tenets of academic freedom, shared governance, consensus-building, fully earned tenure and promotions, and responsible, competitive compensation and benefits. Faculty are actively involved in the decision-making process through both committee and individual input, and students and staff also are given opportunity for input in appropriate cases. The college recognizes that the diversity in background, capabilities, and personal and professional objectives of its faculty, staff, and students is a strength and not a weakness, just as the university does through its diversity program. Thus, the college does not attempt to mold everyone to the same pattern and advocates strong flexibility in each faculty member charting his or her own course. As stated explicitly in promotion and tenure criteria overseen by senior faculty, the college recognizes that different faculty will excel in different areas among the set of teaching, research, and service and should be allowed to emphasize the area(s) in which they excel. It also recognizes that as faculty transition between different stages in their life and academic career, goals and emphases may change.

With the pace of change accelerating, the college must look ahead to the future while continuing to emphasize the above commitments and competitive advantages. The college has undergone extensive self-evaluation over the last year, in part fueled by the untimely passing away of its long-term leader, Dr. Albert Mink, the assessment and preparation required for the Fall 2004 ABET visit, and recent administrative and mission changes at the university level. The following are a set of short-to-intermediate term (1-5 years) goals of the college, with several already in process:

1. Re-accreditation by ABET after the Fall 2004 visit, and successful implementation of the ongoing iterative process of assessment and modification of the programs based upon the ABET 2000 criteria
2. Proposal and establishment of an official minor in engineering
3. Proposal and establishment of a first master degree program in engineering
4. Continuing enhancement of the infrastructure, support, equipment, time, and reward for both applied and basic research activities by college faculty and a further paced increase in faculty research productivity and scholarship over time, within the constraints of faculty interests, time, and resources
5. Major enhancement of the technology program and its resources, and eventual pursuit of ABET accreditation for it
6. Further improvement in the pass rate of ASU engineering students on the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination, as well as general student academic performance and retention, as measured by the assessment instruments being developed as part of the ABET 2000 accreditation criteria.
7. Addition of 2-3 more faculty in each program of the college
8. Addition of, at least, one additional secretary and one additional engineering technician to the college staff in the short-term
9. Exploration of how biosciences can be seamlessly integrated into the college, say through participation of faculty in the current Environmental Science Program and the new Arkansas Biosciences Research Institute
10. Solidification of the college administrative structure, namely dean, associate dean (to-be-added), and multiple (4-5) program directors (to eventually be renamed chairs)
11. Further enhancement and self-definition of each program and associated degree plan, curriculum, resources, and faculty toward eventual separate ABET- accredited degrees (B.S.C.E., B.S.E.E., etc.), chairs, and staff
12. Significant improvement in faculty salaries to be competitive with the profession and comparable universities, and establishment of a consistent and reasonable annual raise mechanism that equitably apportions funds between across-the-board and merit raises
13. Continuing enhancement of the college's instructional and research instrumentation, computer resources, and facilities, including a study of how additional space may be acquired
14. Further enhancement of secondary student services and activities including student branches of professional societies, student competitions, seminars, internships, other exposure to practicing engineers, and assistance in the process of searching for a job
15. Further increases in donated ASU engineering discretionary funds
16. Further increase and strengthening of engineering scholarships provided through discretionary funds or private funding.

The College of Engineering is poised for ongoing development and service to its constituents. It looks forward to the support of the university, community, and profession in the years ahead as it strives to bridge between a highly successful past and new opportunities for the future in a manner that benefits all constituents.

-Goto Top-