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ARIZONA UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
Request for Implementation Authorization for New Academic Degree Program
[Duplicative Program]
I. Program Name, Description, and CIP Code
A. Degree, Department and College and CIP Code
Master of Science in Engineering (MSE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Computer Science, Department of Construction Management, College of Engineering and Natural Science (CENS), Northern Arizona University (NAU). This proposed degree falls into the category of general engineering, which has a CIP code of 14.010.
B. Purpose and Nature of Program
The proposed MSE is a post-baccalaureate, master’s level graduate degree programwhich builds upon the commitment of the faculty in NAU’s College of Engineering and Natural Sciences to “integrating research and disciplinary practice fully into opportunities,” while “advancing both individual and collaborative research and scholarship[1].” It is envisioned as amulti-disciplinary program; taking full advantage of existing CENS and NAU faculty expertise in recognized and developing areas of excellence. It also helps to position the engineering programs at NAU at the forefront of a developing nationwide agenda, whereby future engineers will need to possess a Masters degree or equivalent to become a licensed professional[2],[3]. The primary stakeholders for the MSE degree are:
- Regional and global industries engaged in sustainable systems and the creation of new products and processes,
- Public sector agencies mandated to manage resources and infrastructure,
- Tribal nations that will benefit from trained workforce and research,
- Engineers (in particular, civil engineers) who wish to become a licensed professional engineer and practice engineering;
- Undergraduate students from NAU or from other Western universities wishing to stay on campus in the West for an advanced, thesis-based degree;
- International students wanting advanced degrees in engineering that cannot be met by distance-delivered programs; and,
- Engineering faculty members whose research derived from involvement in the program will inform their undergraduate and graduate courses and enhance their productivity at NAU.
The MSE is a flexible degree program built upon the overarching theme of sustainability and engineering design, has a core of common course work, and permits specialization through selection of technical electives. Degree emphases and electives can be modified quickly in response to changes in markets and faculty expertise. Initially, these emphases would be in:
- Sustainable Systems
- Advanced Engineering Design
These emphases of the MSE can be launched from existing graduate courses offered by faculty from CENS engineering and allied fields. A modest number of new courses are required.
This 30-unit, thesis-based degree is being grown from three existing initiatives: (1) the compliment of graduate courses offered by engineering faculty from CENS through its Master of Engineering (MEng) program, as well as from allied fields, (2) our award-winning undergraduate program in design – a stepping stone to advanced design, and (3) our existing faculty expertise and participation in on-going and directly related research.
The MSE will contain a common core of thematic course workenhanced by technical electivesand advanced mathematic/statistics requirements. Electives can be modified quickly in response to changes in market needs and faculty expertise. A small number of new courses, mostly within the thematic core, are required. The MSE is different from and complimentary to the existing MEng, which is a non-thesisprogram serving place-bound, distance students. We will continue to explore innovative delivery courses (e.g. hybrid or web offerings) and intend to complement, not supplant the MEng degree program.
C. Program
The curriculum is designed to facilitate interdisciplinary study on some of the most important issues of our time – sustainability and innovation, while still permitting depth in a chosen discipline of engineering or in computer science. The degree program will be versatile in that it can allow a student to achieve depth in a single discipline or breadth across multiple disciplines. In either case, the technical rigor and depth of the program will prepare a graduate for continued research, a doctoral program, or for entry into the engineering profession, similar to a graduate from a traditional Masters of Science in an engineering discipline. The unique aspect of this program is that a graduate will understand the application of their profession in the context of sustainability and/or advanced engineering design. At the heart of the MSE program are faculty and students actively engaged in research and its creative application, the strengths of which are in sustainability and advanced engineering design.
The Sustainable Systems theme will focus on sustaining environmental and built systems with topics related to energy, the natural andbuilt environments, policy and management, and informatics. Water and air are the two most important aspects of research and applications in natural environment, in which there will be an emphasis. Consideration will be given to natural resources, their transformation, transportation, utilization, application, and return to nature. A key feature of the program is the cross-disciplinary system approach to addressing important global problems involving faculty and students from engineering and the sciences. The sustainability theme speaks directly to the recommendations of the NAU’s Research and Graduate Education Task Force, which identified the important contribution NAU can make with regionally-relevant, application-oriented master’s programs.
The Advanced Engineering Design theme taps into the creative potential of our students and faculty to devise innovative solutions and improve upon existing solutions through technology and talent collaboration. Innovation (e.g., creating new ideas, designing new products, integrating processes, advancing applications, delivering sophisticated services, and introducing new strategies) has been identified as the “single most important factor in determining America’s success through the twenty-first century – essential to generating the (high-value) jobs that we will need to sustain our standard of living”.[4] Thistheme of design and innovation accommodates the many diverse research areas in the engineering and professional programsthat are directed towards meeting demand in rapidly-developing interdisciplinary technologies of the 21st century. This theme integrates and amplifies our nationally-recognized undergraduate program, Design4Practice, and speaks directly to the recommendations made at the 2005 National Innovation Initiative Summit[5].
The sustainability and advanced engineering design themes, however, naturally intersect – the methods of design and innovation are a necessary element to the successful development or support of sustainable systems. Likewise, the principles of sustainability can foster innovation and economic development. It is this natural intersection of themes that guides this MSE program and its core courses.
The MSE curriculum overview is provided in Table 1below. Except for the core courses, the selection of the elective and math/statistic courses is left to the student in consultation with and acceptable to the student’s graduate committee chair and committee. It should be so selected to support and/or compliment the student’s research and formal course of study. Since the MSE program emphasizes interdisciplinary topics, students may wish to take courses outside of their primary disciplinary focus. Some of these courses may require prior completion of pre-requisite courses.
The common core represents a unifying vision of guiding future research and engineering applications by the principles of sustainability and methods of advanced engineering design. The core consists of two courses – one offered each semester – taught by faculty from across the engineering and professional programs in the CENS. The 3-credit Topics in Sustainable Systemscourse will provide an introduction to sustainability in the natural environments, energy, and the built environments, plus eco-informatics, and its relationship to engineering. The 3-credit Topics in Advanced Engineering Design course will examine research methods and techniques for advancing creativity, the role of intellectual property, and emerging design approaches and modeling concepts in engineering such as biomimicry.
Table 1 -Overview of the MSE Program of Study
MSE Program of Study6 cr. research and thesis
3 cr. advanced math or statistics*
6 cr. core topics in sustainable systems and advanced engineering design
15 cr. 400- or 500-level electives*
30 cr. total**
*Course work must receive approval of student’s graduate advisory committee.
** A maximum of two courses, up to 8-credits, may be 400-level.
Admission to the program requires a bachelor’s degree in engineering or computer science or equivalent. Applicants must select one primary disciplinary focus in any of Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Science. The primary disciplinary focus is normally the department (i) where the student intends to take the majority of his/her coursework and (ii) of his/her academic advisor. If the applicant does not have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in that area, then he/she will be required to complete a pre-MSE course of study in the primary disciplinary focus to achieve equivalency.
D. Current Courses and Existing Programs
The MSE program plans to draw much of its coursework from existing programs and courses, most heavily relying on the existing courses offered as part of the MEng.
The 3-cr requirement in advanced mathematics/statistics will be met byan appropriate coursefrom the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, or a similar course with approval of the student’s graduate committee. A partial list of existing courses that are acceptable in meeting the advanced mathematics/statistics requirement is shown below:
MAT461 Partial Differential Equations (3)
MAT516 Linear Algebra (3)
MAT531 Real Analysis (3)
MAT535 Complex Analysis (3)
MAT563 Numerical Analysis (3)
MAT661 Applied Mathematics (3)
MAT667 Dynamical Systems (3)
STA 570 Statistical Methods I (3)
STA 571 Statistical Methods II (3)
The 15-cr requirement of 400- or 500-level electives will be met from courses found in the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science. However, since cross-disciplinary course work is encouraged in this program, courses from other departments will be acceptable with approval of the student’s graduate advisory committee. Existing courses in engineering and computer science that can be used to satisfy the electives credit requirement are shown below. The ‘599’ courses (shown in the NAU course catalog as “Contemporary Developments”) listed here have been taught at least once before, but the process for establishing these courses as permanent has yet to be completed as of the writing of this request. Other courses, such as those available through the Tri-University Master of Engineering, may be usedif: (1) approved by the student’s adviser and graduate committee, and (2) satisfying the requirements for graduate transfer credits per the NAU graduate transfer credit policy located at
Existing Courses in Civil and Environmental Engineering:
CENE 430 Air Pollution Controls Design
CENE 435 Environmental Biotechnology
CENE 468 Rivers and Streams
CENE 502 Principles of Environmental Transport Processes (3)
CENE 540 Environmental Protection: Today and Tomorrow (3)
CENE 541 Traffic Studies and Signal Systems (3)
CENE 545[6] Advanced Traffic Signals (3)
CENE 550 Geotechnical Evaluation & Design (3)
CENE 551 GeotechnicalEarthquake Engineering (3)
CENE 5606 Classical Open Channel Flow (3)
CENE 562[7] Water Quality Modeling (3)
CENE 599 Contemporary Developments (1-3)
CENE 685 Graduate Research (1-6)
CENE 697 Independent Study (1-3)
Existing Courses in Computer Science:
CS 550 Introduction to Parallel Computing (3)
CS 555 Reactive Systems (3)
CS 560 Computer Networks (3)
CS 565 Distributed Systems (3)
CS 577 Advanced User Interfaces (3)
CS 599 Contemporary Developments (1-3)
CS 697 Independent Study (1-3)
Existing Courses in Electrical Engineering:
EE 531 Wireless Digital Communications I: Introduction (1)
EE 532 Wireless Digital Communications II: Physical Layer Challenges (1)
EE 533 Wireless Digital Communications III: Engineering the Solutions(1)
EE 542 Image Processing (3)
EE 581 Analog Circuits (1)
EE 582 Adv Very Large Scale Integration Design (3)
EE 584 RF IC Fundamentals (1)
EE 585 RF IC Circuits (1)
EE 586 RF IC Circuits Contd (1)
EE 587 Circuit Simulation Algorithms (3)
EE 599 Nonlinear RF Circuits (3)
EE 599 Probability and Random Processes (3)
EE 599 Contemporary Developments (1-3)
EE 608 Fieldwork Experience (1-12)
EE 697 Independent Study (1-3)
Existing Courses in Mechanical Engineering:
ME 510Finite Element Analysis (3)
ME 520Applied Fluid Dynamics (3)
ME 525Applied Computational Fluid Dynamics (3)
ME 530Applied Thermal Analysis (3)
ME 540 Combustion (3)
ME 550 Product Realization (3)
ME 555 Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Management (3)
ME 560 Applied Solid Mechanics (3)
ME 570 Fracture Mechanics (3)
ME 580Composite Materials (3)
ME 581 Experimental Characterization of Advanced Composites (1)
ME 599 Renewable Energy Systems (3)
ME 599 Aeromechanics of Wind Turbine Systems (3)
ME 599 Dynamics and Chaos (3)
ME 599 Contemporary Developments (1-3)
ME 697 Independent Study (1-3)
ME 698 Graduate Seminar (1-3)
E. New Courses Needed
As noted earlier in the Program (section I.C) of this request, the 6-cr of a common core of coursework serves to unify and guide the emphases in this MSE program. This core, however, represents new course work. The catalog descriptions of the two core course are:
EGR 501Topics inSustainable Systems (3-cr) Introduction to sustainability in the natural environments, energy, and the built environments, plus eco-informatics, and its relationship to engineering. Fall semester.
EGR 502Topics in Advanced Engineering Design (3-cr) An introduction to state-of-art engineering design methods including well-established processes such as Design for X issues and Reverse Engineering, as well as emerging design paradigms such as biomimicry; intellectual property rights; research methods; field trip. Spring semester.
F. Requirements for Accreditation
There are currently no requirements for accreditation of graduate degrees in engineering. The engineering professional societies, however, are working to change this in their push for making the master’s degree the entry level degree for the professional practice of engineering[8]. Accreditation would insure compliance to certain learning outcomes, such as an ability to apply knowledge in a specialized area[9], as well as overall quality assurance. We are expecting these accreditation changes to take place in five to ten years and would respond by seeking accreditation for this MSE degree. It is difficult to predict today how the accreditation requirements will actually be implemented. If, however, the proposed changes of the previous reference (footnote2) form the basis of these requirements, we believe the MSE program would be eligible.
II. Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment
A. Outcomes
The engineer of the 21st century will need not only a breadth and depth of knowledge, but application and managerial skills to realize the opportunities of advanced design and leadership in sustainable systems. These ideals have been translated into two program learning outcomes, of which the student must achieve at least one upon completion of the MSE program. Borrowing from the levels of achievement work of the American Society of Civil Engineers[10], these outcomes uniquely reflect the leading-edge thinking about graduate engineering education. This proposed MSE degree will focus on developing engineers who, upon completion of the degree will be able to evaluateat least one of the following:
1. The design of a complex system, process, application, or product.
2. The validity of newly created knowledge in a specialized area of knowledge.
B. Assessment
The process for assessing students’ achievement of the above program outcomes includes two major tasks: (1) the explicit linking of course work outcomes and evidences to the program outcomes captured through a student learning portfolio that is actively supported by the faculty adviser of the graduate program and reviewed for compliance by the student’s graduate committee, and (2) the evaluation by the student’s graduate committee of the culminating thesis in accordance to the program’s educational outcomes. Task 2 follows the standard operating processes of any thesis-based graduate program well-understood by university faculty. Task 1, however, is a more novel approach to assessing student achievement that goes beyond using course grades as the sole measure of outcome achievement. As such, it bears further explanation here. This task first begins with the course instructor who must clearly identify course-specific observable learning outcomes that support, all or part of, the overarching MSE program outcomes of above. The instructor must also identify a modest, but sufficient number of student activities that are embedded into the course, which directly measure students’ achievement of the course learning outcomes. The student, in turn, captures these assessed course-by-course evidences into a portfolio that is organized and presented to the student’s graduate committee for review at least once during the student’s tenure in the MSE program. It is the responsibility of the graduate faculty adviser to also use the portfolio process to regularly assess the MSE curricula and make any necessary changes and improvements encouraged by the process. All engineering and computer science faculty teaching graduate courses in the MSE will be expected to explicitly identify the MSE learning outcomes and measures on the course syllabus.
III.State’s Need for the Program
A. How Program Fulfills the Needs of the State of Arizona
Engineering and its sister activity – engineering education, continue to play a vitally important role in the state of Arizona. The demand for advanced engineering and natural resource applications that increase efficiency and reduce cost to the state, its industries and its citizens has created a need for engineers with a college education beyond that offered at the bachelor’s degree level.
Reports by the Arizona Department of Commerce draw specific attention to areas of growth and need for advanced engineering degree programs to support this growth[11],[12],[13],[14],[15]. Additionally, the Needs Assessment Subcommittee of the Arizona Board of Regents anticipates an increase to over 23,000 professional program graduates and 74,000 Masters graduates to meet growth in demand within Arizona’s highly trained technical and information/communications based workforce[16].
Included in these areas of growth and need are emphases that support Arizona’s established and evolving tech industries where engineering faculty expertise and the demand for graduate education already exists at NAU: Sustainable Systems, which includes, but not limited to, water and renewable energy resources and ecoinfomatics; and Advanced Engineering Design, which includes, but not limited to, innovations inbiotechnology, composite and nano materials and technology, and wireless communication.
Additionally, rural and northern Arizonacontinues to have unique needs with respect to its engineering workforce and its engineering educational demands. Graduate education opportunities for engineers made available at NAU, continue to serve these needs and address the demands of both the metropolitan workforces and the special engineering and technical workforce needs of rural and northern Arizona, including the Tribal Nations.