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Industry Adjuncts: Lessons Learned

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Conference

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Vancouver, BC

Publication Date

June 26, 2011

Start Date

June 26, 2011

End Date

June 29, 2011

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Curricular Innovations in College-Industry Partnerships

Tagged Division

College Industry Partnerships

Page Count

12

Page Numbers

22.862.1 - 22.862.12

DOI

10.18260/1-2--18144

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/18144

Download Count

376

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Paper Authors

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Charles E. Baukal John Zink Co. LLC

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Dr. Baukal is the Director of the John Zink Institute which is the training organization for the John Zink Co. LLC in Tulsa, OK which is a leading manufacturer of industrial combustion equipment. Dr. Baukal has over 30 years of industrial experience and over 20 years of teaching experience. He is a licensed Professional Engineer, has authored or edited 8 books on industrial combustion, and is an inventor on 11 U.S. patents.

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Geoffrey L. Price University of Tulsa

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Geoffrey Price is Professor and Chairman of the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Tulsa. He graduated from Lamar University with a BS degree in chemical engineering in 1975 and from Rice University with a PhD in chemical engineering in 1979. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and Professor Emeritus at LSU in Baton Rouge. His research interests are in heterogeneous catalysis, primarily zeolite catalysis.

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John E. Matsson Oral Roberts University

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John E Matsson is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Chairman of the Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, and Mathematics Department at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden in 1988 and 1994, respectively.

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Wes Bussman John Zink Co. LLC.

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Wes Bussman, Ph.D., is a senior research and development engineer for the John Zink Co. LLC. He received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Tulsa. Dr. Bussman has 20 years of basic scientific research work, industrial technology research and development, and combustion design engineering. He holds ten patents, and has authored several published articles and conference papers and has been a contributing author to several combustion related books. He has taught engineering courses at several universities and is a member of Kappa Mu Epsilon Mathematical Society and Sigma Xi Research Society.

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Sarah M. Olson Northern Oklahoma College

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Ms. Olson received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University in 1998 and is completing her Masters in Adult Education at Colorado State University (May 2011). She worked with ConocoPhillips as a project and area engineer and as a distillation consultant until 2009. She currently serves full time as a faculty member teaching math and science courses and as Director of the Process Technology degree program at Northern Oklahoma College.

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Abstract

Industry Adjuncts: Lessons LearnedAbstractSome have described adjunct instructors with significant industrial experience as “Professors ofPractice.” These adjuncts can provide many benefits to both students and institutions. Forexample, students can see how theory is applied in actual practice and institutions can offerelectives in subjects where the existing faculty may not have specific expertise. However,teaching part-time while working full-time can be challenging, especially given the increasinglyglobal nature of many industrial organizations where frequent travel is often required. Thispaper describes an engineering equipment manufacturer that has partnered with two localuniversities to provide adjunct instructors. The industry adjuncts teach several mechanical andchemical engineering courses, some of which are required and others which are electives. Thebest and most experienced industry instructors are often the busiest. Both universities have madesome important accommodations that make it easier for those busy adjuncts to more effectivelybalance work and teaching. For example, both universities have adjusted the meeting times forthe courses (e.g., early morning, over lunch, late afternoon) to be more convenient for workinginstructors. Another important aspect of this teaching arrangement is that multiple instructors areused for each class to give the instructors more scheduling flexibility and reduce the workload onany given instructor. While multiple instructors can add some complexity for the students, thebenefits can be significant for both the students and the instructors. The course content is animportant consideration for industry adjuncts. There are two types of courses that are generallyeasier for industry adjuncts, both of which require relatively minimal preparation time. The firsttype is where much of the content already exists. This usually means using a standard textbookwith prepackaged materials such as PowerPoint slides, a solution manual, and sample exams thathave been prepared by the textbook company and/or by previous full time faculty who havetaught the course. The second type is where the topic is in the specific area of expertise for theinstructors where they already have much of the content developed. In this particular case, oneof the courses taught by the industry adjuncts is on experimental methods which happens to be acore competency of the company which has a world class combustion test facility. The adjunctswere given some flexibility in designing that course according to their specific expertise, whereboth instructors have written books related to experimental methods. Some other suggestionsinclude smaller classes to minimize the time required for grading and meeting with studentsoutside of class, close proximity between the company and the university to minimizecommuting time, and access to university resources (e.g., copier, whiteboard markers, etc.)outside normal working hours. This paper will discuss the benefits and challenges along withsome of the lessons learned when industry provides adjunct engineering instructors, includingsome recommendations on how to enhance this type of relationship for both the adjuncts and theinstitution.

Baukal, C. E., & Price, G. L., & Matsson, J. E., & Bussman, W., & Olson, S. M. (2011, June), Industry Adjuncts: Lessons Learned Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--18144

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