Replacing A Bachelors Degree In Engineering Management With A Two Track Minor : A Case Study
- Conference
- Location
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Honolulu, Hawaii
- Publication Date
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June 24, 2007
- Start Date
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June 24, 2007
- End Date
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June 27, 2007
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Engineering Management
- Page Count
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17
- Page Numbers
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12.1238.1 - 12.1238.17
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--1736
- Permanent URL
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https://strategy.asee.org/1736
- Download Count
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405
Paper Authors
Philip Gerhart University of Evansville
Philip Gerhart is the Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science and a professor of mechanical and civil engineering at the University of Evansville in Indiana. He is a member of the ASEE Engineering Deans Council. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and serves on their Performance Test Codes Standards Committee. He chairs the PTC committee on Steam Generators and is vice-chair of the committee on Fans.
Douglas Ramers University of Evansville
Greg Rawski University of Evansville
Dr. Greg Rawski is an Assistant Professor of Management at the University of Evansville. He earned his Ph.D. in Manufacturing Management and Engineering from the University of Toledo. Greg was honored as one of twelve future leaders of Indiana selected as recipients of the Governor’s Award for Tomorrow’s Leaders by the Indiana Humanities Council. The Governor’s Award for Tomorrow’s Leaders recognizes outstanding young Indiana leaders between the ages of 19 and 29 for their achievements in entrepreneurial, community, education, and cultural arenas and for their commitment to Indiana. His research interests are work integration, knowledge integration, and new product development.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Replacing a Bachelors Degree in Engineering Management with a Two-Track Minor : A Case Study
Abstract
The University of Evansville (UE) offers EAC-ABET accredited programs in Civil, Computer, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering, a CAC-ABET accredited program in Computer Science, and AACSB accredited programs in Business Administration and in Accounting.
Since 1976, UE has offered a BS degree in Engineering Management which is a combination of fundamental engineering courses and fundamental business courses, together with electives. The degree was not designed to be ABET accredited and has never been submitted for evaluation. There were two “ideal” candidates for the degree; students who sought a career at the interface between engineering and business (e.g. technical sales, construction management) and students who wanted a second degree to compliment a degree in engineering or in business.
In recent years, faculty interest in the program has been lukewarm and student demand has been very light. Often the program became a “bail-out” option for engineering students who were struggling with technical material or who decided that engineering was not the career of their dreams. Most of the students entered the program from engineering; almost no students came in through business.
An opportunity to re-examine the program came with the hiring of two new faculty members, one in Mechanical Engineering and one in Business Administration. A small committee was formed to study the current program and offer suggestions for improvement. In addition to examining the program and its students, two external surveys were conducted: one of potential (local) employers and one of other schools which offered degrees in Engineering Management. After completing these surveys and a discussion with UE’s Business and Engineering Advisory Council, the decision was made to discontinue the degree and a new minor in Engineering Management was proposed. The minor is considered to be unique in that it has two completely different tracks, one to accompany an Engineering degree and another to accompany a Business Administration degree. This paper describes the history of the EM degree, the surveys conducted, and the two-track minor that was developed.
Background
The University of Evansville (UE) is a medium size, independent, comprehensive university. Among its four colleges and schools are the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Business Administration. The University offers EAC-ABET accredited programs in Civil, Computer, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering, a CAC-ABET accredited program in Computer Science, and AACSB accredited programs in Business Administration and in Accounting.
Since 1976, UE has offered a BS degree in Engineering Management (EM). The degree is essentially a combination of fundamental engineering courses and fundamental business courses,
Gerhart, P., & Ramers, D., & Rawski, G. (2007, June), Replacing A Bachelors Degree In Engineering Management With A Two Track Minor : A Case Study Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--1736
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