Continuous Program Improvement - ABET Accredited B.S. Program

Metallurgical Engineering • SDSM&T • Rapid City, SD
 

2007 Program Educational Objectives Review

 

The Advisory Board met on Dec 2, 2007 to review the department’s mission:

·    Provide a quality program leading to the degree B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering

·    Participate in multi-disciplinary programs leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs in materials engineering and science

·    Contribute to the expansion of knowledge in the area of materials and metallurgical engineering through scholarly activities

·    Help local, regional, national and international materials and metallurgical industries through research and development activities

 

As part of the first mission statement the board reviewed progress towards meeting the B.S. Metallurgical Engineering program educational objectives:

  • Successfully apply metallurgical engineering principles in their employment
  • Meet societal needs through science and technology
  • Grow professionally and personally
  • Serve their profession and community

 

The board concluded:

·         There was no need to modify the department mission or the program educational objectives.

·         The program had successfully negotiated the retirement and replacement of three faculty members.

·         The department needs to assure adequate undergraduate enrollment to avoid the threat of program sanctions or closure. A goal of 80 students is a reasonable goal. 

·         Being a strictly metallurgical engineering undergraduate program is a useful nitch.

 

 

The program faculty reviewed the Advisory Board Report.

 

Loop closure on the 2004 Actions is summarized here.

 

2004 Evaluation Process Actions Completed

·         Employer feedback on program alumni is now obtained through the population of the Advisory Board with employers of the alumni.  This avoids the confidentiality difficulties that arose from employer surveys while providing direct quality feedback on alumni performance.

·         Alumni survey questions have been directly aligned with the program educational objectives rather than with the previous incorrect alignment with program outcomes.

·         Program educational objective evaluation is now designed to receive input from alumni surveys, and constituent focus groups, and the Advisory Board.  Actions to improve attainment of the program educational objectives will be determined by the program faculty.  

 

2004 Objective Improvement Actions Completed

·         The pre-retirement faculty implemented a demanding laboratory rewrite process in selected program laboratories.  This expectation is clear to the new faculty and associated training and review procedures for all faculty members are established.

·         At least one class period equivalent per program course is now expected so as to distribute ethics across the curriculum.

·         Students receive instruction in global issues in MET 310 and MET 321 and are required to write a paper with elements of global issues.

 

 

 

 

2007 Program Educational Objective Actions

 

Evaluation Process

·          Employer Surveys continue to be difficult to obtain because employers are increasingly hesitant to provide confidential information.  Therefore, the employer survey will be abandoned in favor of interview input from interviewers and our alumni who employ SDSM&T graduates.  The established relationships we have with interviewers and employing alumni will promote the unfettered input.

·          Employer survey questions continue to be aligned closely with the Program Objectives rather than with the currently alignment with Program Outcomes.

·          Alumni survey questions are now aligned closely with the Program Objectives.

·          Alumni surveys are to go online using Survey Monkey.

·          Survey Monkey needs to be written to complete objective evaluation for SDSM&T Departments, SDSM&T student.

·          The Student Satisfaction-Importance (SSI) survey should be renamed the Non-Program Alumni Satisfaction Survey and be limited to those non-program alumni since they are surveyed elsewhere.

 

Implementation Plan

·          Populate the Advisory Board with employers and use input from the Alumni Survey and the board to evaluate program objectives.

·          Rewrite the Alumni Survey to include direct align with program objectives.

·          Purchase (subscribe to) Survey Monkey.

·          Determine if the SSI Survey is worth the effort and, if so, work for better participation and definition of the results.

 

 

Objective Improvement

·          A new President will likely restate and reformat the institutional Goals and Objectives.  Therefore there will be a need to remap the Program Objectives to any restated Institutional Goals and Objectives.

·          Communication skills may suffer during program faculty transition.  After transition, the program should establish common understanding of writing and oral communication goals.

·          The effectiveness of the newly implemented modules on ethics, professionalism, and global issues need to be assessed.

 

Implementation Plan

·          Participate in campus visioning and offer input so as to maintain our establish objectives.

·          Train new faculty in writing expectations and procedures.

·          Assess ethics, professionalism, and global issues on the Senior Exit Exam to assure alumni are prepared to achieve the program educational objectives related to these topics.