Engineering-Other (59) The goals of this project are to use distance education to establish (1) accredited bachelor's programs in chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering at four-year colleges and (2) pre-engineering programs in these four disciplines at two-year colleges. The project builds on the University of North Dakota's (UND) twenty years of experience providing undergraduate engineering distance education that is ABET-accredited in all four of its disciplines. The project expands existing relationships between UND and other four- and two-year institutions in a collaborative effort to increase the number of qualified engineers that enter the workforce. Specifically, the project partners with North Dakota State College of Science and Benedictine College, in addition to the tribal colleges of Fort Berthold Community College, Turtle Mountain Community College, and Cankdeska Cikana Community College in order to stimulate interest in STEM fields among Native American students. The project implements and evaluates the use of distance engineering education as a means to establish pre-engineering programs at two-year institutions and to enhance full engineering programs at four-year colleges.
This project developed and validated an educational model that uses distance education as a means to rapidly and economically establish engineering degree programs at four-year institutions that do not currently have the resources to offer an engineering degree or are concerned about the risks involved in starting new engineering programs. With modest costs and little risk, this flexible model can be replicated at many of the 86% of U.S. colleges that do not now offer engineering degrees. Benedictine College (BC) is serving as the proving ground for the model’s full implementation and evaluation. After implementing this model in Fall 2009, the BC Engineering Department has established five-year dual-degree programs in each of the four major engineering disciplines (chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering) through a partnership with the University of North Dakota’s Distance Engineering Degree Program (UND DEDP). Over the past 5 years, the BC Engineering Department has grown rapidly to 170 students and has produced graduates in each discipline. The key element to the rapid growth of the BC Engineering Department is its ability to offer students the opportunity to pursue ABET-accredited degrees immediately through its partnership with UND DEDP. The model is intended to be used on a temporary basis as the institution works to develop its own ABET-accredited programs. In fact, BC is now in the process of preparing to offer its own ABET-Accredited Mechanical Engineering Degree.
