COMMUNITY COLLEGE PATHWAY TO ENGINEERING CAREERS

By Aco Sikoski

Ivy Tech Community College – Valparaiso CampusFebruary 27, 2009

Agenda

9:45am – 10:00am Pre-Engineering program at Community College Aco Sikoski ITCC Valparaiso Campus

10:00am –10:10am Pre-Engineering program at ITCCBrian West ITCC Evansville Campus

10:10am – 10:30am Pre-Engineering Transfer Agreement with Universities Dr. Kraig Olejniczak Dean, College of Engineering VU

Dr. Muhammad Anan Prof. Electrical and Computer Engineering PUC

Dr. Larryl Matthews Dean, College of Engineering and Technology PNC

10:30am – 10:45am Q&A PanelAll speakers

What is Engineering?

Inventing

Design

Develop;

Manufacture;

Test;

…

ABET defines it as:

Engineering is the profession in which a knowledge of a mathematical and natural sciences, gained by study, experience, and practice, is applied with judgment to develop ways to utilize, economically, the materials and forces of the nature for the benefit of mankind.

Source: ABET 2008 annual meeting

Source: ABET 2008 annual meeting

Organizing to Improve the Pipeline

Image

Community Colleges

Faculty

Strategies

Policy

Image…

Students do not know much about engineering (44%)

Only 20% of parents have encourage their children to consider an engineering career;

They do not feel confident enough in their math and science skills (21%)

source: American Society for Quality

Image …

Middle School program: Gateway To Technology

High School program:Project Lead the Way

The Center of Workforce Innovations, Inc: Council on Manufacturing & Engineering Competitiveness

Source: ABET 2008 annual meeting

High School

First Year

Electrical

Community College

Second Year

Third Year

Fourth Year

MechanicalComputer CivilFirst Year

Second Year

Third Year

Fourth Year

First Year

Second Year

Third Year

Fourth Year

First Year

Second Year

Third Year

Fourth Year

Community College Pathway to Engineering Careers

Successful Transfers to Four-Year InstitutionsChallenges…

An aggressive high school outreach program to attract qualified students to the engineering profession via community colleges and four-year educational institutions

An intensive enrichment program in mathematics and science at the community college level to boost the proficiency of underprepared high school students.

Engineering courses with state-of-the-art technology and education supplemented with a variety of interesting design-and-build programs to motivate students to continue the study of engineering leading to a bachelor’s degree

Coordinated curricula between community colleges and four-year institutions through articulation agreements with institutions in the area.

Successful Partnership…

mutual respect and trust between the participating institutions at all levels

open, ongoing dialogue between faculties and administrators

common objectives, strategies, and advertising

coordinated programs and activities, including joint projects and cultural activities

ongoing efforts to refine and align lower-level course offerings at the community college level

visible presence of partners on each other’s campuses

ITCC Pre-Engineering curriculum

GENERAL EDUCATION - 39 CREDITS CRCHEM 105 General Chemistry I 5

COMM 101Fundamentals of Public Speaking 3

ENGL 111 English Composition 3IVYT 1XX Life Skills Elective 1MATH 211 Calculus I 4MATH 212 Calculus II 4MATH 261 Multivariate Calculus 4MATH 264 Differential Equations 3PHYS 220 Mechanics 5PHYS 221 Heat, Electricity, and Optics 5XXXX XXX Humanities/Soc. Sci. Elective 3

ITCC Pre-Engineering curriculum

PROFESSIONAL CORE COURSES - 27 CREDITS

ENGR 116Geometric Modeling for Visualization 2

ENGR 140 Engineering Software Tools I 3

ENGR 160 Engineering Software Tools II 3

ENGR 190 Intro to Engineering Design 2ENGR 251 Electrical Circuits I 4ENGR 252 Electrical Circuits II 4ENGR 260 Vector Mechanics-Statics 3ENGR 261 Dynamics 3XXXX XXX GE / Technical Elective 3

ITCC Pre-Engineering Transfer Agreements:

Purdue University Calumet:Fall 2006Fall 2008

Purdue University North Central:Fall 2007

Valparaiso University:Fall 2008

University of Southern Indiana:Fall 2006

University of Evansville:Fall 2006

Pre-Engineering students…

“I think it is better to go to a community college for the engineering because you have the benefit to get all of your prerequisites out of the way and get an associates degree in engineering. It helps out a lot because you don't have the big class so you get more one on one time with the teacher when you need help on things.”

ITCC Pre-Engineering student

Pre-Engineering students…

“In general I have really enjoyed the program. I feel that I look at everything from a different perspective now. But it also takes away a lot of the mysteries in life, like rainbows, mirages, or even why the sky is blue. I just can't help but to look at everything from an engineer's point of view. My favorite classes were the design classes, like designing stuff using the inventor program. I also enjoyed physics and chemistry. And even the math was interesting. I did like most of the teachers I had, most of them even showed us even more than what was required by the class specifications. But most of all I enjoyed the smaller classes I had, I couldn't imagine learning calculus in a lecture hall with over a hundred students.”

ITCC Pre-Engineering student

CC success…

Itasca Community College

From 1998 to 2002, 85 percent of Itasca’s 140 students in engineering and physics transferred to four-year engineering programs, the majority at the University of North Dakota. From 1999 to 2003, 110 students graduated four-year programs with A.S. degrees from Itasca; 100 (91 percent) of them either became engineers or are on track to do so..

Community College Pathway to Engineering Careers

Q&A Panel