The School of Engineering and Mines (SEM) in a partnership with industry in 1988 established three distance-learning undergraduate engineering programs, offered in parallel with corresponding traditional on-campus degrees. This initiative gave access to an engineering education to students who, because of locations and schedules, otherwise could not pursue an engineering education. The distance-learning students, by virtue of their paraprofessional experience, have needs, expectations, motivations, knowledge bases, and skills that differ from those of traditional students. Thus, the curricula must be modified to meet students' needs efficiently, incorporating their experiential knowledge base and skills inventory, while simultaneously ensuring validated compliance with ABET accreditation standards. It is also critical that faculty develop strategies for attaining maximum teaching effectiveness in the distance-learning environment. The stakeholders for the "Enhanced Curriculum for Undergraduate Engineering Adult Learners in Industry" include engineering educators, industry, and undergraduate adult learners. Program objectives include: (a) completing a comparison of a broad range of cognitive and performance based competencies of distance-education students and traditional students; (b) enhancing curricula to meet the unique needs of adult learners while adhering to ABET standards, (c) developing faculty members' competencies needed to enhance teaching of non-traditional learners; (d) evaluating program outcomes using summative and formative techniques; e) disseminating results which document the evolution of an ABET accredited, undergraduate distance-learning program in engineering.
