This project is designing and implementing a Service Systems Engineering curriculum to meet the emerging needs of the U.S. economy where more than 80% of the GDP is now based on the service sector. This new curriculum, which is based on a recently completed Delphi Study, is broadly interdisciplinary, incorporating subject matter from several fields both inside and outside of engineering. The investigators are defining the needed courses and the content of these courses for the engineering portion of the curriculum and they are developing and delivering these courses using discovery- and team-based learning approaches. Their goal is to enroll 140 students in the program by the end of the project. To support their efforts, they are working to enhance their interactions with service sector industries by establishing and engaging an Industrial Advisory Council made up of industry leaders and by securing co-op or internship opportunities for the program's students. Faculty members from Montana State University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Illinois-Champaign, and Wayne State University are active participants on the project's curriculum development team that is providing a broader perspective on the development and helping to disseminate the new curriculum. The project results are being disseminated though conference and journal publications, through the institution's website, and through faculty workshops. An external evaluator is leading the assessment effort, which is using an assortment of tools, including standardized exams, alumni and employer surveys, and exit interviews with students to monitor the project's progress and to characterize its accomplishments. Broader impacts include the dissemination effort, faculty workshops, and the development of a service-oriented program that, according to many reports, has special appeal for students in underrepresented groups.
