ECE Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes for April 27, 2007

1. Steve Bishop reviewed our current ABET preparation status. He reminded the faculty to submit their Spring 2007 materials and assessments as soon as possible after the end of the semester. He noted that substantial work on the documentation to be submitted to the ABET evaluators in the early summer had been done, but that much also remained to be done; in particular, some of the self-assessment could not be completed until the faculty provided their inputs. He gave a rough timetable and description of remaining tasks, including submission of the curricular and departmental documentation to ABET in June, and further work over the summer to organize the course materials for the convenience of the evaluators and to respond to the evaluators' questions or requests for more information. The actual visit is expected to be scheduled for sometime in October, with follow-up after that potentially lasting into the Spring 2008 semester.
2. The Curriculum Committee discussed the results of the 2007 ECE Alumni Survey. The Chair noted improvements in all of the Program Educational Objectives and all of the Program Outcomes except for (nCE) Discrete Math since the 2000 survey, with particular improvements in the lower-rated areas, such as professionalism and communications. The former chair (Kudeki) noted that several areas had been identified by our self-evaluation process after the ABET 2001 visit as of particular concern, namely professionalism and ethics, communication, and advanced math (for EEs). The Curriculum Committee had focused extensively on curricular modifications to improve in these areas during the past few years, and the survey results showed the largest improvements in these areas. There seemed to be a general consensus that the curricular changes to strengthen the advanced mathematics education had been very successful. Another consensus was that the results showed that the extensive efforts to embed ethics and professionalism, along with an increased emphasis on communication and teamwork, throughout the curriculum have been quite successful. These areas need continued monitoring and enhancement for further improvement, but the Committee concluded that we should continue with the same strategies adopted in the past few years due to their success.

   The decline in discrete mathematics surprised the faculty. Some speculated that changes in the Computer Science courses and curriculum, or perhaps merely changes in instructor in either math or CS, might account for the loss, and that they may prove transitory. In any event, the Committee members felt that the Computer Engineering students' preparation in these areas is and remains adequate, judging by their performance in subsequent courses and the complete absence of any concerns in this area in the detailed comments of the survey respondents.

   The Committee discussed the individual responses, looking for common threads or trends that might indicate general areas of concern or possibilities for improvement. Individual survey responses, as well as the high and improving marks in the technical knowledge and skills outcomes, indicate that the program continues to do a superb job in these areas. However, there were a number of comments stating that the teaching of practical knowledge or skills, or of current engineering practice, was relatively lacking.

   The relatively large number of alumni pursuing non-traditional engineering careers (e.g., patent law, business, medicine) surprised many Committee members; some remarked that we need to make sure that our curricula serve non-traditional career paths reasonably well. Communication skills were often mentioned as important and under-emphasized. Several mentioned that better business-related knowledge (such as about patents) would be helpful.

   Several alumni remarked that the workload was so high that they had little time to gain a larger perspective on the subject, and more mentioned feeling "humbled" or almost overwhelmed by the workload.

   Some commented that certain software-related skills needed more emphasis. The Chair noted that Matt Frank said that industry perceives our Computer Engineering graduates as having insufficient software skills to the point that it excludes them from certain career opportunities.

   Some members suggested that equal performance in all areas is neither necessary or desirable, and that some things are more easily learned at the University and others in internships or in early stages of the career.

3. The Committee adjourned at 11:56 AM.