October 8, 1999
The Advisory Board meeting took place at the Ullsvik Center. Daryl George, Chair, welcomed
everyone and asked them to introduce themselves to the rest of the group. Faculty and staff were
thanked for their commitment in attending the meetings.
Advisory Board members have been busy in between meetings responding to curriculum content. Curriculum comments have been posted on the UWP Web site. Additional comments would be appreciated from those who have not responded.
The Steering Committee met prior to the Plenary Session to discuss the Charter and membership
terms. The following terms have expired: David Allison, Dan Bartel, Stacey Bucheger, Edward
Busby, Charles Crawford, Jerry Dassler, Kevin Hagen, Oliver Julien, Forest Kenworthy, Purna
Khuntia, Mac Klingler, Jerome Krohn, Jeff Mazanec, Arnold Mohlman, Ara Molitor, and Peter
VanderGrinten. A motion was made that the terms be extended. Motion was seconded and
carried.
Dean Shultz was introduced and welcomed everyone to campus. He reported that the Steering
Committee had discussed the Advisory Board Charter and Bylaws. The Charter includes a
membership section indicating that the members of the Board are appointed by the Chair upon
the recommendation of the Nominating Committee. It was felt that perhaps a more select group
should be involved in the recommendations, such as the past chairs of the Advisory Board. This
group represents a broad spectrum of actively involved members. The Steering Committee
endorsed the recommendation. In addition, a discussion was held on changing the membership
portion of the Charter to create a new membership category called "Inactive Members". These
are members who would not be attending meetings or have voting privileges, but who would still
stay committed to the college and to the university and be called on for their services.
The Dean gave an overview of comments received from the last meeting of the Board.
1. Members had requested a follow-up on the departmental assessment surveys. Each
department chair will give a brief statement, and copies of the assessment summaries
can be found in the packets.
2. Board members indicated their willingness to be involved in projects/assignments
between meetings. A curriculum packet was mailed to each Board member asking for
feedback. All comments were posted to the UWP Web site. The afternoon session
will be used to break into discipline groups for discussion. All comments will be used
by the Chair and Vice Chair in the preparation of a report to be utilized for the
College's Self-Study.
3. Updates on College activities were requested. The Dean presented an overview of the
goals, opportunities and challenges for the College of EMS.
Goals
- Complete preparations for ABET visitation
- Assessment plans are in place and being implemented
- Capital equipment 3 year acquisition plans are prepared and being updated
- Curriculum reviews are underway
- Self studies of each program are being written
- Successful presentation of Master of Engineering to the Board of Regents
- Committee is nearing completion of proposed curriculum
- Will start on-campus approvals this fall
- Needs assessment is being conducted now
- Presentation to the Board of Regents is planned for February/March 2000
- Explore various modes of distance engineering education
- Develop graduate and certificate courses
- Investigate delivering undergraduate engineering education via web, compressed
video, video tape and distance on-site instruction
- Expand efforts to develop international experiences for our students and faculty
- Explore cooperative education experiences with universities in other countries
- Investigate expanded student/faculty exchange programs
- Expand efforts to make the College attractive to women and people of color
- Expand our efforts in attracting women students through the Women in
Engineering Program
- Create an attractive environment for women faculty, staff and students within the
College
- Develop dialogue with faculty, staff and students of color to assess the
environment within the College
Opportunities
- Undergraduate engineering education in the Fox Cities
- Several planning meetings have taken place with Fox Valley industrial
representatives, UW-Platteville and UW-Fox Valley
- Needs assessment is being developed
- International education opportunities with METU, FH-Darmstadt, and Taiwan
- A proposal has been sent to our sister institution in Turkey, Middle East Technical
University
- Initial contact and expression of interest has occurred between UW-Platteville and
FH-Darmstadt in Germany and Chaoyang University in Taiwan
- Expansion of WCATY program
- UW-Platteville is assessing what appears to be a very successful presentation of
exploration of science and engineering for the Wisconsin Council for
Academically Talented Youth last year
- The program is being reviewed for another presentation and possible expansion
- Marketing of the Master of Engineering program through the Advisory Board and
Alumni newsletters
- When the Master of Engineering is approved, UW-Platteville will work with
Learning Innovations to market the program
- Initial marketing efforts from UW-Platteville will involve our Advisory Board
and engineering department newsletters
- Increase alumni scholarship support through the major gifts campaign
- As the major gifts campaign begins its efforts in Southwest Wisconsin, the
College will put an emphasis on soliciting scholarship monies from alumni
- Specific alumni will be targeted for solicitation of named scholarships
Challenges
- Gender equity issues
- Perception of environment for women faculty and staff in the College
- Raising awareness of these perceptions
- Monitor and respond to issues raised by women students
- Department Review Bodies inequities
- Large variations in the differentials of faculty evaluations
- Plans to add accountability to the responsibility of faculty evaluations
Lisa Riedle, Assistant Dean, distributed a draft of the Master of Engineering Program and gave
an overview. The program will be reviewed by campus government bodies this fall and then
seek approval from the Board of Regents in the spring.
The chairs presented an outline of their department's assessment surveys. Summaries were
included in the packets.
Prior to the breakout sessions by discipline, the Dean charged the groups to conduct an open
discussion on the curriculum and to prepare a report to be given to the Chair. The Dean reported
that the next meeting of the Advisory Board would take place during Engineering/Science Expo '00 on March 31, 2000. The meeting will be business casual.
Daryl George congratulated Jeff Mazanec on his induction into the Athletic Hall of Fame as an
All American Race Walker.
Each group gave a brief presentation on their discussions.
- Max Anderson, Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
reported that the group encouraged the implementation of communication and people
skills into existing courses. It was suggested that the surveying class be updated to
include the GIS system.
- Rob Hasker, Software Engineering, reported that oral and written communication
were considered important components of the program along with control theory and
structural analysis and design.
- Philip Sealy, Electrical Engineering, indicated that the group had discussed four
years versus four and a half years, and also included communication skills as a key
part of the program. The group felt that longer projects should be assigned and have
a capstone versus a distribution design.
- Doyle St.John, Engineering Physics, reported that since the program was new, name
recognition may be a problem with graduates being viewed differently by potential
employers. It was recommended that the transcript have an area of emphasis listed.
There are eight different emphases offered for flexibility. The 2.50 GPA for students
entering from General Engineering should be maintained.
- Kurt Rolle, Chair of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, reported that their group
also had discussed the importance of communication skills. Programs should
address the environmental aspects of engineering.
The Board was thanked for attending and for the information received from the discussion
groups. The next meeting of the Board will take place on March 31, 2000.