APC Handbook LINK 4 Form B

(APC Handbook – LINK 4 – Form B)

Academic Planning Council

In-depth Program Review [Form B]

Form B is due on or before October 15.

Please supply the following information

Program / Mechanical Engineering
Department / Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Current Academic Year / 2013-14
Date of Last In-Depth Review / AOC Review – February 2011
ABET Review – October 2012
Name of Program Contact Person / David N. Kunz
Position of Program Contact Person / Professor and Chair

To be completed by the program/department

1.In a paragraph, briefly describe your program’s Mission Statement and how it relates to the University Strategic Mission.

The mission of the Mechanical Engineering Program is consistent with the strategic plan of the College of Engineering, Mathematics, and Sciences (EMS), the UW-Platteville mission, and the University System mission. The mission of the Mechanical Engineering Program is to provide a quality mechanical engineering education with significant design projects, hands-on challenges, and sufficient laboratory experiences to enable our graduates to practice their profession with competency, proficiency, and integrity in any of the many facets and positions of the traditional mechanical engineer.

The Educational Objectives of the Mechanical Engineering program enable students to become broader in perspective, more literate, intellectually more astute, ethically more sensitive and to participate wisely in society as a competent professionals and knowledgeable citizens. The Program provides a baccalaureate degree in mechanical engineeringwhich is an institutional area of emphasis. It provides an undergraduate distance learning programdelivering degrees in mechanical engineering to students in the Fox Valley, Rock County, and to statewide students near the 13 UW-College campuses.

2.List your program’s long-term (5+ years) goals as reported on at your last APC review and describe how your program met those goals. If there was a need to modify those goals, briefly explain why.

The basis for goals of the Mechanical Engineering Program is to maintain the outstanding reputation of our graduates in the engineering workforce after graduation. The current challenge to this goal is continued unprecedented growth in student enrollment in Mechanical Engineering when the University has not provided adequate support to maintain faculty and equipment within the Program. More than 1000 students on the Platteville campus have declared Mechanical engineering as their intended major. Adequate faculty positions have not been added to match this growth. Laboratory equipment is aged, inadequate in quantity, and problematic in performance and maintenance.

The educational objectives of the Mechanical Engineering Program describe the educational motivation for the long term goals of the Program. They have remained relatively constant and are listed below:

1. Graduates are proficient mechanical engineers with a strong background in the technical areas.
2. Graduates aremechanical engineers with strong professional skills.
3. Graduates areengineers who understand the need for and have the capability and motivation to pursue continual professional development.
4. Graduates areengineers who are familiar with ethics and professionalism.
5. Graduates areengineers with a well-rounded education to become quality citizens.

In addition to a long standing Program on the UW-Platteville campus, the program has delivered degrees in Mechanical Engineering, first to UW-Fox Valley beginning in the early 2000’s, and subsequently to UW-Rock County, UW-Washington County, and statewide to students near UW-Colleges campuses. This has been a largely successful effort to provide an educational program as close as possible to that available on the UW-Platteville campus to a wider group of students across the state of Wisconsin.

3.At this point in your long-range planning, list your program’s most important (5+ years) goals and briefly describe the resources your program will need to be successful, as well as any concerns or issues your program is facing. Also briefly address how these goals support your program’s Mission Statement.

(maximum of three)

Long-term Goal One / Increase faculty salaries toa level adequate to retain current faculty and to attract and retain quality new faculty.
Resources Needed / Funding
Issues or Concerns / Two tenured full professors have left the University for comparable positions at 50-75% salary increases.
How Goal Supports Program’s Mission Statement / Two core faculty members have left the Program for equivalent positions at significantly higher salary levels. Another is currently interviewing. The last search failed and a search is currently active for 3 positions in the Program.
Long-term Goal Two / Increase the number of faculty members to a level adequate to maintain the quality of the Program for the current enrollment and for projected growth.
Resources Needed / Additional faculty positions
Issues or Concerns / 1065 students currently declare Mechanical Engineering as their major at UW-Platteville.
How Goal Supports Program’s Mission Statement / Interaction between students and faculty is a key element in establishing the effectiveness of graduates in the engineering workplace. Enrollment in the program and therefore in classes has increased since faculty numbers have not kept pace with the growth. Advising loads for faculty are very high. This necessarily limits mentoring relationships.
Long-term Goal Three / Laboratory and classroom space and equipment to maintain the class size and hands-on focus of the Program that allows close interaction with faculty members that is responsible for the outstanding reputation of our graduates and the Program.
Resources Needed / Laboratory space, updated and additional lab equipment
Issues or Concerns / 1065 students currently declare Mechanical Engineering as their major. Hands-on education and interaction with faculty are compromised at these enrollment levels
How Goal Supports Program’s Mission Statement / The program has a very strong reputation as a hands-on engineering program with a positive learning environment. This is well recognized by industry and by families of potential engineering students.

4.If your program was reviewed by any outside accrediting bodies since the last APC review, please identify the review body and briefly summarize the results in 1-2 paragraphs.

ABET, Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC), October 2012.

The Mechanical Engineering Program was accredited. Strengths cited included faculty members providing numerous contact hours with students, significant laboratory experiences, and a very positive learning environment.

A weakness was identified in that the statement of Program Educational Objectives focused on attributes of students at the time of graduation rather than graduates’ achievements several years after graduation.

A concern was identified as to whether the current faculty was sufficient in number to cover the curriculum at the current enrollment within the Program.

A second concern was identified related to a 1 credit inconsistency in graduation requirements during a recently completed transition to a new version of the curriculum.

An interim report addressing the weakness cited above is required. Changes to the statements have been drafted and will be finalized.

Information Required by the Assessment Oversight Committee

5.Please answer the following questions in 1-3 pages.

a.What evidence do you have that students achieve your stated expected outcomes?

The Mechanical Engineering Program evaluates three levels of data to assess the quality of the program. Figure 4-1 is a graphical representation of the data that drives the assessment process. Assessment data is represented by the highlighted boxes; the far left highlighted box represents information collected from faculty conducting their own assessment using course rubric assessments. The data that is collected at regular intervals is collectively referred to as “Structured Assessment Sources” represented by the center highlighted box, and includes sources internal and external to the Mechanical Engineering Program. The assessment process also receives input from a third source of information: Unstructured Sources in the right highlighted box. These unstructured sources inform the identification of problems or weaknesses within the program. Information from these sources usually cannot be structured or formatted nor can the timing be determined. They can, however bring insight on opportunities for improving the program. It is important to note that this assessment process is iterative, and that information gleaned by assessment is considered, changes to the program are implemented, and then the results are assessed again in an effort to “close the loop.”

Figure 4-1: The mechanical engineering assessment process

While the figure shows the general assessment process used to evaluate the program, it does not discriminate between Educational Objectives and Program Outcomes. Data sources from each of the three levels are used to measure educational objectives as well as student outcomes. Structured assessment sources are divided to assess Program Outcomes and Educational Objectives as shown in Figure 4-2. Therefore, the same process, as illustrated in the figure, is used for both Program Outcomes and Educational Objectives.

Figure 4-2: Structured assessment measures Educational Objectives and Student Outcomes

The Mechanical Engineering Program works to ensure its graduates are capable of five educational objectives listed earlier in this document

The cornerstone of this assessment in the Mechanical Engineering Program is data from constituencies outside of the University that observe and work with students and graduates of the Program functioning as engineers in industry. Educational Objectives are assessed using data sources including:

• Alumni of the Program, collected annually
• Supervisors of said alumni, collected annually
• Feedback from the EMS Advisory Board each semester

Supervisors of students working in co-operative engineering experiences through the university that last approximately 9 months provide an Employer Assessment of Academic Preparation based on their observation of 3rd and 4th year students within the engineering workplace. Student performance on the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam provides an evaluation of student preparation in the Program compared to state and national norms.

Every student in the capstone senior design course is part of a student team that works closely with people that sponsor these projects. Most often, these are companies in the region that provide engineering projects, with the remainder sponsored by physicians, schools, or other entities with applicable engineering project needs. These individuals are a new addition to the evaluation of academic preparation based on the engineering work of students in the capstone course.

Student outcomes listed below are evaluated using faculty-developed assessment rubrics, student surveys, co-op reports, and graduate exit surveys

a. An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering

b. An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data

c. An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability

d. An ability to function on multidisciplinary teams

e. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems

f. An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility

g. An ability to communicate effectively

h. The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions to a global, economic, environmental, and societal context

i. A recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning

j. A knowledge of contemporary issues

k. An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice

b.What have you learned as a result?

There is a high level of general satisfaction with the ME Program at UW-Platteville concentrated in the employers of our graduates and students interested in studying engineering, and their families. A need for improved communication skills in college graduates, both oral and written is sometimes cited in evaluations from outside constituencies.

c.What changes have you made as a result?

A significant revision to the curriculum was developed and instituted beginning in 2009. The transition for students is recently complete. Areas addressed included increasing computer based modeling and analysisand removing an elective choiceof either Linear Algebra or Statistical Methods that limited their use in upper level courses. This was accomplished by requiring Statistical Methods and integrating Linear Algebra and programmed solution techniques into a new course ME 3430 Introduction to Computational Methods. The number of 2 credit courses in the curriculum was reduced. Communication is a specific emphasis in several courses including oral laboratory and project reporting and presentations, and focused report writing in at least 5 classes.

Information Required by the Academic Standards Committee

6.Briefly describe how your program is engaged in reviewing its own internal academic standards. In particular:

a.How does your program monitor consistency in course standards and course content from semester to semester?

The Mechanical Engineering Curriculum Committee and it’s subgroups in specific curriculum areas monitor course content, syllabi, textbooks, etc for all courses. The M.E. Lab Committee and various subgroups work together in similar fashion to assure consistency in laboratory work, equipment, and materials.

b.How does your program monitor consistency in course standards and course content for multi-section courses (i.e. courses with more than 2 sections and more than 2 instructors per semester)?

As above, the Mechanical Engineering Curriculum Committee and it’s subgroups in specific curriculum areas monitor course content, syllabi, textbooks, etc for all courses. The M.E. Lab Committee and various subgroups work together in similar fashion to assure consistency in laboratory work, equipment, and materials.

c.How does your program monitor consistency in course standards and course content for courses taught in multiple formats (i.e. on-campus courses, on-line courses, streaming-video courses, etc.)?

The Committees referenced in a. and b. above include representation from all of these department areas specifically assuring that student opportunities and experiences are as consistent as is possible.

d.What does your program do to ensure that the courses, major options, minor options, etc. are current and relevant?

A minor is not offered in Mechanical Engineering. Course content is a primary focus of the Curriculum Committee and faculty and is a point of emphasis in a., b., and c. above. The assessment process includes constituencies as described earlier that demand that current course content meet the needs of the employers of our graduates.

e.What does your program do to ensure that grades are an accurate reflection of course/student outcomes?

Grading practices are a regular topic of review and debate within the Program. Prerequisite preparation is reviewed. Points of comparison with state and national performance on professional licensing exams are monitored.

Information Required by the Academic Information Technology Commission

7.The first set of questions refers to your programs current use of information technology. The second set of questions refers to your program’s proposed future use of information technology.

Current Technology Information

a.What information technology is being used by your program? Please include library resources. For each tool that is used, please identify the objective of that tool and any barriers to achieving that objective. Please record your responses in Table 1 – Current Technology Index.

Current Information Technology Tool / Objective / Barriers to Objective
Specific Mechanical Engineering software packages, Solidworks, Algor, Star-CCM, Matlab, Mathcad, EES, Labview, other specialized software connected to lab hardware / Specific to course or equipment, necessary for instruction in several curriculum areas. / Lack of virtual desktop provision of software access to students. Age of equipment (e.g. 386 computer needed for older hardware),
Mediasite, Blackboard, Connect-Pro, Google Drive, Camtasia, etc. / Distance meeting and instructional software to enable Collaborative Engineering campuses, project work, meetings, etc. / Quality, lack of technical support, inconsistency in training and availability, lack of enough rooms/facilities with adequate technology, labs with large equipment
Karman Library, print based and electronic resources / Engineering information resources to meet the needs of all courses in the M.E. curriculum / Students are unfamiliar and lack interest in using these resources. Reasons are not clear, but are likely related to their focus on on-line materials.
Web based resources / Research information searches in support of coursework / Inconsistency in availability, variable capabilities in users,
variable credibility of information
Microsoft Office / General communication, calculation, presentation use.

Table 1 - Current Technology Index

b.List any program/department policies regarding usage of the technology.

N/A

c.List any innovative uses of technology in your program/department.

• Solidworks, widely used in industry for engineering documentation, basis for the Rapid Prototyping Lab and engineering design supporting several upper level classes
• Finite Element Analysis, topic of a specific technical elective class that is very popular in industry and with Mechanical Engineering students.
• Computational Fluid Dynamics, cutting edge analysis tool for a technical elective course, rarely taught in undergraduate engineering
• Labview, Matlab, Engineering laboratory and analysis software
• General purpose engineering and educational/communicationsoftware

d.What is the skill level of faculty and staff regarding the utilization of the technology used in your program/department?

The Mechanical Engineering faculty members are very highly skilled in engineering and general use software as well as general computer hardware and software.

Faculty members that teach in areas using each of the specific analytical software packages have excellent capabilities.

Proposed Technology Information

e.What new information technologies are you piloting or would like to explore? For each tool, please answer the following questions.

The Mechanical Engineering Program should have the capability of testing internal combustion engines in the building for laboratory instruction.

The Program has been asked to stop use of the steam turbine apparatus in the Ottensman Hall sub-basement because of inadequate building issues that could compromise safety.

1. What is the learning or objective in using this technology?

Both of these are fundamental issues for the study of energy and thermal fluid systems, and are key areas in mechanical engineering. They are of high interest to faculty and students in the program, and are highly relevant to society and industry.